


Accomodations

by Soruga0Bandgeek



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: At some point we might get real backstory, Charlotte Liliana Potter, Gen, I've fallen into a KHR/HP trap of SKULL IS !!, Maybe a little too BAMF? But I'm just having fun and trying to enjoy, Mostly family and fleshing out how she'll be as Skull, She has disguises that she slips into, The Mafia knows her as Skull, They call her Charlie, and Does fun stuff with it, or Char Char, or i might write that separately just a Harry Potter & Twin fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 28,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22970722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soruga0Bandgeek/pseuds/Soruga0Bandgeek
Summary: Everyone's accomodated and taken into account - from habits, to likes, to making sure to be their for them when they most need it. She understands them very well and knows how she should properly act - she justt decides to do so most of the time.Getting to know this Skull de Mort and developing her Skull!side and her Charlotte Potter!side. Who knew Harry Potter's twin was living a double life (the answer is very few did.)
Relationships: Arcobaleno & OC, Harry Potter & OC twin
Comments: 65
Kudos: 518





	1. Chapter 1

Skull opens the door when she gets the feeling that someone is outside.

Colonello is bloody and surprised when the door opens, gives the Cloud a pained smile before falling forward. He grunts as Skull catches him ( _she’s too small, he should have crushed her, but no_ ) and easily carries him into her place.

She doesn’t set him on the couch, the usual and only place she takes her guests and takes him all the way into her room. Colonello dazedly notes the room, doesn’t know it’s hers.

He passes out when she begins rummaging through a supply box and somehow knows he’ll be okay. Skull cuts open his shirt and begins addressing his wounds, cleaning up the mess and putting ointments that have the cuts healing close in a matter of seconds.

He won’t remember, but she shakes him away to have him drink something and before his world goes dark again she gets the names of those that did this to him.

Skull tucks him in, sending a quick text to Reborn that Colonello’s been injured and arrived at her place. The Hitman would be confused as to why Colonello showed up here as would Colonello once he woke up, but Skull would merely just smile and offer up the words she gave them years ago,

“ _You will come to me in times of trouble.”_

+++

By the time Reborn showed up, Skull was lounging around on her couch, picking at her guitar and trying to practice and get used to strumming and singing at the same time. She hummed along the words as she worked on the accompaniment.

There was a single knock and she sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be doing this for as long as the Hitman was around.

It wouldn’t be so bad dealing with Reborn at least and she gave the Hitman a beaming smile as she led him in, heading straight to her room.

Thankfully this was a home where she didn’t mind if they ended up in the back rooms (though it was known that unless Skull permitted no one went beyond where they were supposed to go. Permission was important.)

“I did as much as I could Reborn, but I’m not much of a healer,” Skull said to the Sun user as they both looked over Colonello, though judging by Reborn’s look Skull backed off.

“Surprisingly you did fine, Lackey, it seems those lessons of ours came in handy,” Reborn missed the wooden smile the Cloud gave him.

“Senpai was very helpful.”

Skull left the room while Reborn did a deeper check up on the Rain, who still hadn’t woken up even though it’d been nearly two days. The Cloud didn’t think much of it, most Flame users that she had so happened to heal in her own way, tended to sleep longer after her treatments.

She stepped into the kitchen, gadgets already whirring to life and preparing themselves as she brought down cups and teapots, along with organizing the snacks nicely on a plate.

Skull was a proper host of course.

(And as a proper host that had been subjected to an injured fellow, she dealt with their problems. She smiled wickedly, eyes gleaming brightly as she remembered the men and women begging.

They wouldn’t know it was her.

But for those that remained alive they would remember and know better.)

+++

Skull eyed the crumbs that got on her bed, Reborn noticed her gaze and simply drank from his cup. When Skull had learned to brew espresso like this, he wouldn’t know, but he would have to make it a habit for her to keep making it.

Colonello merely sipped at some tea, even though he really wanted coffee, something in Skull’s smile told him that he would be better off taking the latter. The tea filled him with warmth that wasn’t usual, so he kept drinking it until he unknowingly finished the teapot Skull had brought.

“It was The Lamparo Famiglia,” Colonello answered Reborn’s unasked question, picking at the crumbs that had fallen off his napkin and sprinkling them on the now empty plate. “I was coming back from seeing Lal and heading to Mafia Land when they caught me off guard.”

“Oo~” Skull cooed in a way that was mocking, earning an annoyed glare from the Rain “Leaving lovey dovey always leaves you weak Colonello~”

Colonello refrained from throwing his cup at Skull, who merely plucked it out of his hands and settled it on the tray. He felt sluggish and he sighed, leaning back into the pillows and blankets, “I’ll get you for that.”

Skull beamed, almost seeming to sparkle, “Of course, sleep big boy, you need it.” She turned to Reborn, who only blinked at her holding out his empty cup to her that she also placed on her tray. “There’s more in the kitchen if you would like some Reborn.”

The Hitman didn’t need to be told twice.

+++

Reborn had left, passing on the information onto the others, leaving Colonello with Skull who just resumed to practicing her songs. She was in the middle of a rendition of Burn **(1)** when Colonello finally stepped out of her room and plopped right beside her on the couch.

She was too good to let herself be rustled, but one of the chords didn’t strum as nicely as the others, “If you can do that, you can leave now.”

“Aw come on, kora!” He leaned back into the corner of the couch, resting against the armrest as he watched her intently. “Get your stage fright over with now, I’ll listen to you and tell you what you can do better!”

Skull smiled, less sparkles and more annoyed, “I’ll instead let you eat and then leave, how about that?”

“But I want to hear you sing, kora!”

“You’d rather be hungry and hear me sing?” she asked, about to start playing, only for Colonello to lean forward, pulling her hand back and giving her an equally annoyed smile.

“Why can’t I have both?”

“ _Your time of trouble is over_ , come on it’s better for you to eat than to hear me sing anyways,” she put her guitar down and headed for the kitchen.

+++

He had been pretty much driven out by Skull’s overbearing dramatics _and_ because she had given into his demands and started singing.

If screeching entirely off key was considered singing.

Even when he tried to help her sing, she couldn’t sing in pitch with him.

Really how hard was that – _ring~_

“Lo?” he answered, hearing Reborn’s familiar drawl on the other end.

“Someone got to The Lamparo’s a few days ago, headquarters are completely trashed and survivors have long since fled.”

“You think they went after someone else as well?”

“Wouldn’t doubt it,” Reborn answered. “I wouldn’t worry anymore.”

He’d still look into them and see who else they’d been going after, “Didn’t think you’d look into them so soon.”

“I was around.”

Colonello huffed, not once looking back to see Skull’s place fade away between the two buildings.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 - Burn by In This Moment. Skull wasn't about to start growling tbh. 
> 
> HELLO~~~
> 
> I am going to be completely honest, this is just a fun little stress relief thing. I've been thinking alot about the arcobaleno and Skull (and reading a lot of SkullisHarry! and I was like YOO yes BUT WHT IF?) and all that jazz. These chapters are also probably going to be short because I need to work on being less long winded and more how to get my point across in less than so many words. 
> 
> But yeah.
> 
> Hope ya enjoyed~
> 
> Sorugao


	2. Chapter 2

If there was one thing Skull disliked, was when people demanded things of her. Or when people instantly wrote her off and looked down on her. Or when they decided to talk about her as if she wasn’t there (it was worse when she found them talking behind her back). She hated people having expectations of her, of thinking she was already one way because of previous people’s opinions.

_You’re an unusual little cloud?_

_..A lady should always be proper…_

_…That riffraff you deal with…_

_..When are you going to grow up? Settle down?..._

_Did you know she’s the weakest? Still have no clue how she was chosen._

_You should do as I say, or it’d go worse for you._

The window in front of her shattered and she sighed, merely waving a hand before it so it would repair itself.

She watched as a familiar figure walked up to the fence, stopping right before her home before moving on. She would have invited them in if she felt welcoming, but she was in a mood and seeing any of them at the moment would just make her even more obnoxious.

She _loved_ getting under their skin, pushing them until the restraint they thought they had slipped. It was a win on her part, even though they took it as time to teach her a lesson.

She probably would have received a call by now asking where she was, but she had let her cell service expire a few days ago.

Unless it was extremely important, she would not hear from them, nor they from her.

She had better things to attend too.

+++

“Skull!” a curly, brown haired woman greeted, throwing her arms around the purple haired woman, who happily returned it.

Her hair was currently up in two buns, bangs covering her forehead. Her piercings were in, black lipstick making the silver ring on her lip stand out. A ridiculous fluffy pink coat that had been gifted to her by an upcoming fashion designer was shrugged off and placed around the other woman’s shoulders, earning a huff of amusement from said woman.

“Are you ready for a tour Martha?” Skull asked, her German accented and slightly muffled as she sucked on a lollipop.

“Oh hell yes!” the woman’s brown eyes sparkled, holding tightly onto the coat as she practically jumped in place. “When you sent me your plans and the places, Oh, I can’t wait!”

“I sent a message to the others, hopefully they’ll be able to come.”

Skull led the way out, helping Martha with her luggage, the other woman saying things like _how couldn’t the others come._

“They all have lives, Martha.”

“Pfft, Skull for you they’ll do anything.”

Skull laughed sheepishly, feeling her face flush as she lifted the luggage into the back of her car, “But they have lives!”

Martha merely smiled as she slid into the passenger seat, pinching Skull’s cheek, “Anything for you, honey.”

+++

She had various names, though Skull de Mort was her most prominent one.

She had different looks for each one, even for when she wanted to be just another person in a sea of people. Skull knew how to blend and create; shedding disguises like a snake shed its skin. Though unlike a snake, she was able to always go back.

It was easy to bring in different styles, to help her tour crew develop something other than them and to reach for greater heights. She let them make their way, allowing them to grow whichever way they wanted.

It was why they all returned to her in a matter of days.

(The American Trapeze Duo Dylan and Marcella Davanti, Masias Michaels a fellow stuntman, Rodrigo Rodriguez the man of many talents, Elena Porter an Aerial Dancer, Dominique Foley another stuntman and an acrobat.)

They had all gotten to know each other when traveling with a newly founded Californian Circus that merely traveled as far as Las Vegas for its first few years. Skull had merely been a new face in the United States, wanting to be a part of the glamor of Hollywood after having broken off from Europe.

At first it was hard to get gigs as either a stunt double or stuntdriver, mostly because she didn’t have a background or any formal training.

So she joined the circus.

Again.

Not that it was a problem; she loved the life, the travel, the meeting of new faces and people and being among people who just understood the freedom of it. Sure it was tough times, but she’d been through so much worse and honestly.

If she could spread some fun and happiness, then she would.

If she could help and be a listening ear between her breaks, she would.

And everyone loved her for that.

+++

With the coming of the old traveling gang, Skull let them decide what acts there would be, how each night should played out, while also pitching in her two cents.

(Three weeknight performances by her with her fellow drivers with an opening act that was still to be decided. The other nights would go to the others, with an opening act that would vary depending on who else they managed to get to work with them.)

She started putting up help wanted ads in the newspaper and anywhere she could stick a flier on. While many would have thought her unable to pay for the amount of help and time she would need people, most didn’t realize what else she did.

Which was fine by her.

(Amelee’s disguise as a lingerie model helped, as did Mila’s acting jobs when she was able to take one up. Often enough she was called to act in as Skull because they decided to use her shows as a place to be in movies or she would be a stunt driver for a character.

And then there were the charities, but she never touched that money, that went to the foundations she had built and supported.)

She could afford it ( _that didn’t take into account her inheritance, but she would never touch that. Not unless it was an eMeRgEnCy and she’s had plenty of those and never depended on it.)_

Martha of course would be dealing with the logistics of traveling, of where would be suitable and for how long.

Honestly, Martha was a Saint.

+++

“She’s not picking up.”

“She doesn’t even have service, how can she pick up.”

“I’m not paying for it.”

There was a scoff as someone rolled their eyes, “ _Obviously,_ but seriously who is going to go look for her?”

“Already tried.”

“And?”

The Hitman blinked at the woman, who looked more than a little annoyed, “I didn’t find her.”

“But you’ve been to her house!”

Reborn gave Colonello a bland look, “So have you.”

The blond gapped at him, before closing his mouth and sitting back, “I don’t remember how I got there,” he admitted after a few seconds.

“Idiot.”

“What’s your excuse, kora?!”

“I already told you I didn’t find her, are you deaf?”

Colonello snorted, “You can find anyone, how can you _not_ find Skull of all people?”

Reborn merely shrugged, not bothering to answer that.

Even if it was annoying that he couldn’t.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I am back again. 
> 
> I hope you're all having a wonderful day. 
> 
> This chapter (and probably the following ones) are going to be looking into Skull and how she feels/thinks about how she's treated.


	3. Chapter 3

It took a few weeks, but everything was planned.

They started working on creating their perforamnces, with Skull bringing back videos from her early days of stunt driving.

“So you want to do a timeline from beginning to end?” Masias asked getting a nod from Skull.

“I’m retiring after this Masias, so I want this whole year long tour to be an exploration of how I started and developed.”

Masias blinked, hazel eyes shining with glee, “Does that mean….”

“Yes, I’ll be singing.”

Masias gasped, clasping his hands in glee, “Oh my! I haven’t heard that voice in so long!”

Skull smiled just as gleefully as Masias was feeling, tongue peeking out, “We still have to train for stunts, we can bring back our cage for some of the shows.”

She watched the bald man fan himself, slumping over in his seat, shaking his head, “Oh Skull if you keep talking to me like this –“

“I’ll just ask Dominique if you’re going to do this.”

“Oh you’re no fun,” he said, looking as if he was thinking of something before his eyes widened. “Can we do the trio drive?”

“Yes.”

“Oh hell fucking yes!”

Skull merely rolled her eyes as Masias left her tent, shouting for Dominque and yelling something along the lines of _girl_ _you’re not_ before she couldn’t hear him anymore.

+++

It was Halloween when Skull finally took a break from work. (The others had been telling her to relax, they had until February before the tour started.)

She retreated back to her room, making sure no one would be coming in to bother her as she had made sure that she wanted to be left alone. (And they wouldn’t intrude on her privacy when she actually asked for it, even when she didn’t, she was given space and she loved them for it.)

She opened her trunk, delving into the contents of it until she came upon a long sleeved black dress. She changed into it, feeling odd being in such a soft clothes compared to her leather riding suit. It reached to her knees and knew it would get cold where she was going, she brought out a long red cloak along with a pointed witches hat and a short wand.

It was Halloween of course and she had to play the part. (That of course wasn’t the reason why, there was another, but she wouldn’t think too much of it.)

She let Skull’s face fall away revealing a very different young woman, with short shaggy black hair and differently colored eyes, and a scar that branched up from her collar and over the left side of her face She didn’t bother checking herself in the mirror and with a simple twist, she was gone.

+++

Godric’s Hollow wasn’t a place she visited often (Great Britain was honestly a place she stayed far from). The times she would it would be because it was asked of her and who was she to deny the only family she had left?

It was late afternoon when she arrived by the church, which cast a nice shadow and hid her sudden appearance well.

“Charlie,” a man of her height with just as shaggy hair and brilliant green eyes greeted her and she hugged him, her hat tilting back.

“Good to see you Harry.”

The two intertwined their arms together and began making for the cemetery that was close by. They would be in silence as they visited the graves of their parents, leaving behind a single red Gladiolus and a white Lily.

They stopped beside the statue that had been erected of them and their parents many years ago, Charlie taking a seat on it as Harry leaned against it.

“Honestly Harry a lily?” she asked, lightly teasing her brother, who only shrugged.

“I’m sure mum would have found it funny.”

Charlie scrunched her nose, instead of responding she ruffled his hair and Harry sighed, shaking his head. A nice silence fell between them and they watched as the streets began to fill with people. It was always nice to enjoy this, it made her miss her brother so much as the last time she saw him was just before their birthday.

“Are you stopping by for Yule this year?” Harry asked, looking at his sister who couldn’t hide the minute frown that crossed her face.

“I have plans,” she responded hesitantly, looking down at her lap where she had clasped her hands. It didn’t take long for her brother to place his hand over hers, but she didn’t look at him.

“It’s okay, I had a feeling you were up to something.”

This time she looked up at him and was met with his kind smile. (She tried her best not to notice the crows feet at the edges of his eyes, the light grey dusting his hair.) “I…I’ll try to come before or after, maybe after New Year’s.”

“Thanks Charlotte.”

+++

She had an early dinner with her brother and though he invited her to come back to his home in Lancashire, she merely said she was expected back.

“I’ll make time, things have just gotten busy now,” Charlotte had told him and he nodded in understanding, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Be careful Charlie.”

She pouted at him, but returned the hug and kiss, “I’m always careful.”

Her brother huffed a laugh, shaking his head.

She watched as he apparated away, already missing his company.

Honestly she would visit so much more – but she heard, she knew, and she didn’t want to be asked about her life. Her life which had taken such a drastic turn that would have everyone questioning how she allowed herself to get dragged into that mess.

But that’s the thing.

She allowed it.

She decided to let that happen.

It was her decision.

Not like how her early life was made up of being told what to do, of being guided and strung along, having her ability to say no and yes snatched from her one too many times.

Her eyes – left eye green and her right hazel – glowed purple, before they returned to normal (as normal as they can get).

_No one would tell her what to do._

_She would only allow them to_ think _that they had that power._

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Charlotte is still good with Harry, which pegs the question does he know about the arcobaleno curse? Mind ya, I'm always against those fics that depict the main character having a twin and then jsut having a bad time. Its why I started writing We Are Two and now why Harry has a cool twin sister.
> 
> But yeah
> 
> Thanks for the likes guys :) its really nice in such a odd time.
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> Sorugao


	4. Chapter 4

It was around the beginning of December when she was in Bologna, Italy. The air was chilly and Amelee was just glad that it hadn’t started snowing. 

Amelee had just finished a modeling shoot and not wanting to undo all the hard work of the makeup artists and hairdressers she decided to just leave as they had done her up. Honestly she felt like she was the mightiest woman with her light brown curled, framing her face just so, and her simple brown eyes popping due to the brown and pink hues that the artists had coordinated beautifully.

She felt like a Goddess (and had looked like one with the pretty dresses and lingerie that she had worn that day) even in her simple jeans and long coat.

Usually as Skull (or whoever) she always felt invincible, but right now, she felt sexy.

So sexy.

And then she nearly ruined that image when she almost tripped over her own feet when she happened to cross paths with Dino Cavallone, who had taken one look at her and done the very thing she almost did.

(Where were his men?)

She offered him a helping hand, smiling kindly at him, and wasn’t at all surprised when he was blushing. He took her gloved hand, not letting go of her hand as he asked if he could invite her to a coffee for her help.

Amelee gave him a sweet smile, “That is kind of you, but I must be on my way,” she declined politely, her Italian accented.

He didn’t seem too put out, though his lip did seem to threaten to turn up. Instead he kissed her knuckles, “Well, I thank you once again for your help, Signorina.”

Amelee refrained from looking taken back and kept up her smile, “We must always help one another, no? Have a good day and be careful, sir.”

If she happened to quicken her pace to where her ride was waiting for her, no one would know. The driver only looked at her curiously as she burst out laughing, nearly cackling at the idea of _if Dino only knew!_

+++

“Oh I forgot how big that was,” Skull said a semi-truck drove into the open lot with a large, circular cage on its trailer.

“I am so excited,” Masias said beside her, seeming to vibrate. “It’s been _years_.”

Dominique was beside them, rolling her eyes at the way too excitable man, “Yeah it’s been years, we have to make sure it’s still sturdy to handle what we’re going to do.”

Masias waved his hand, “Of course, of course, how many riders were you thinking of putting in there Skull?”

“Five.”

“Nice.”

“This one won’t show until midway through the tour, so we have time to find the other two,” Skull said, striding forward the check with the driver who had parked. “I don’t want this to be a repetitive show, I want this to grow in intensity until the end.”

+++

Charlotte wore a green long sleeve turtle neck, a leather jacket that had once belonged to Sirius, a pair of black jeans and ankle high boots.

She was also promptly tackled as soon as she appeared at the Burrow, by not only her nieces and nephews but her brother-in-laws, so her ‘cool Aunt’ aesthetic was ruined. She huffed a breath, returning hugs and kisses and trying to keep track of the questions that were being thrown at her from the young ones.

(She felt a bit guilty, the last she had seen Harry’s kids was a few months ago, the others hadn’t seen her in over a year.)

“Charlie, Charlie, is it raining? Has the sun disappeared forever? What has fallen and why are you here?” one Fred Weasley asked, earning a laugh from the woman.

“I’ve been busy.”

“You’re tanned, so the sun is still obviously up somewhere, what’s got you outside in winter Char-char?”

She gave them an impish smirk, but didn’t respond, ruffling their hair as she went to say hi to Fleur and Bill. The twins shared a look, dramatically pouting, but knowing that they weren’t going to get any answers from the woman.

Charlotte would enjoy the moment, though once Mrs. Weasley noticed she was visiting that would change, but until then she would enjoy chatting with everyone.

+++

Mrs. Weasley as soon as she noticed her was very happy to see her, smothering her in a hug, while asking questions about everything all at once.

Charlotte tried to answer them all as best as she could, giving a pleading smile to anyone that was nearby when Mrs. Weasley asked about if she had found a man or if she was close to settling down.

“Honestly sweetheart, you’re in your forties and you don’t pop in often enough around here to see who is available.”

She refused to give into the urge to scream and shout that she was successful, that she was planning her last big show before she retired and opened up the training school for stunt people. (Too many good ones had been taken trying to replicate what she had done – the impossible.)

“I’m enjoying my life Mrs. Weasley, I think I’m allowed that.”

“At what cost?” Hermione piped up and Charlotte refrained from sighing. “You didn’t finish Hogwarts and you don’t even have a backup plan apart from your Circus acts.”

“School isn’t –“ Charlotte cut herself off, realizing there were young ears listening and she corrected herself. “It wasn’t that important to me.”

“Didn’t you have a dream that you wanted Charlotte?” Hermione asked, having tried before to get the other woman to return to school and finish it so she could get a good job. Such a brilliant and powerful witch and she couldn’t even work in her own society.

Charlotte was going to respond, before closing her mouth, brow furrowing, “I think I’m going to lie down, if you’ll excuse me.”

And she bowed out, heading upstairs to Ginny’s old room.

She ignored the mirror in the room, laying down and having her back face it. Honestly coming here was more exhausting than running an actual circus. She easily consoled herself, telling herself it was only until tomorrow.

+++

When she came back downstairs no one brought up the topic again.

Of course no one would dare bring it up when Charlotte’s attitude which had been getting more and more sullen completely flipped as she saw that Teddy and Andromeda were there.

“You saw me a few days ago,” Teddy jokingly whined, his light blue hair turning purple and growing it out long. His brown eyes took on a purple hue and Charlotte merely squished his cheeks, knowing that the boy was being brat and that no one but them two would understand what he was doing.

“I saw you after Halloween you brat,” she deadpanned, not at all letting up on scrunching up his face.

Teddy merely allowed his face to become wrinkly, earning a chuckle from Charlotte, “Lovely, absolutely lovely.”

Teddy turned to the others at the table, the wrinkling skin of his cheeks flapping in a way that had some of them cracking up, “If this is what she finds lovely, I can see why she’s still single. Not many chaps looking like this.”

There was a moment of silence and then it was broken by the sound of someone’s hand meeting their face. They all turned to Charlotte who had her face in her hands, head shaking, while Andromeda merely put a hand on the young woman’s shoulder as if to comfort Charlotte, though she herself was trying hard not to smile.

“Oh he got you good Char-char.”

Charlotte glared at George, who smiled charmingly back.

“I’m about to make your ears even Weasley.”

There was a moment of silence and then a loud explosion.

Mrs. Weasley tutted as George ducked underneath the table, followed by Fred who threw a small ball at Charlotte, who merely leaned to the side only to have the ball explode and cover her in green goo. The chase that began was really a sight to see.

Now if only her children put that much effort in other things, Mrs. Weasley wouldn’t have to be hounding them at all.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I kinda forgot about this and then i remembered and I was brought back.
> 
> Every one talks about it, so sorry for bringing it up, but this stay at home, no school, no work really has messed me up time wise. Last I checked it was still the beginning of March and NOT mid April. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed!


	5. Chapter 5

There was a woman with her hair held up with an odd looking hair stick and heterochromatic eyes in the underground train. She had wireless headphones on and was bopping her head to whatever she was listening too.

Verde stared at the woman, finding something about her oddly familiar though he couldn’t exactly say what. It was just instinct telling him _you know her_ , _she’s safe_. He was always one to question things like that and why that was (he blamed the Arcobaleno for this.)

Of course when he went to do that, he found himself getting off the train wondering where he could possibly find a decent cup of coffee.

He didn’t question his actions until he got where it was he needed to be. 

“Now that’s curious.”

Elsewhere on a train, Charlotte shook her head, a smirk on her features as she continued clicking through her music playlist.

It really was too easy to lead her fellow Arcobaleno around.

+++

Skull was overseeing Elena, keeping an eye on the woman and her fellow dancer’s just to make sure that everyone was safe as they worked. Aerial dancing always made her a little hesitant to do, especially after the one time someone got seriously injured by a small slip up.

Elena was talented and the way she incorporated other dancers to support the story she was trying to tell through dance was just amazing ( _the fact Elena called up a few other people to see if they would join her was also just as awesome, cause holy hell they were great too_.)

“Skull,” Martha called to her, a clipboard in hand as she was ticking off on whatever she had written on their. “The lighting and music is set, this should run smoothly for opening night.”

“Good,” she answered, feeling a slight sense of relief.

She was more than okay with coming up and working on plans, she saw how it was meant to go and was able to carry it through. But the small details like this were always something that eluded her and she was once again thankful that Martha was here.

As if knowing her thoughts, Martha smiled, shimmying her shoulders up and down, “Time sure has gone by these past few months, I swear it was just Christmas.”

Skull huffed, rolling her eyes, “You’re telling me, I’m surprised we were able to pull this all of in such a short time.”

“The world’s been waiting for you Skull,” Martha said, looking past Skull and at the way Elena let herself fall before catching herself on red silk. “Sure you’ve been training others and pushing forth your charities, but the world thought they’d never see you again.”

Skull didn’t know if she should feel bad, sure she was at the top of her fame when she was cursed nineteen years ago. She couldn’t appear in her cursed form in the civilian world, but she knew the right people to make it _seem_ as if she was still her usual self.

She had announced a hiatus, one that would span nearly fifteen years, though she hadn’t stayed idle. She had time, so much time to learn and do more than she thought she could. Her name was still spoken, the charities and foundations she had started still running big and helping others around the world. Skull had demanded better protection for stunts people and for them to be better informed of what they deserved and to stand up for themselves in the face of those who tried to get them to put their lives unnecessarily on the line.

The world always would never know the sacrifice she had gone through to make sure it kept going, she could at least give them this. So she smiled, eyes crinkling and face seeming to glow with pride and happiness, “Well, they’ll just have to wait a little bit more, won’t they?”

+++

“Tsuna-nii!” Lambo came barreling in, I-pin not too far behind. “Look! Look!”

The envelope and flier in the boys hand landed with a loud smack on the table and Tsuna could tell that Reborn hadn’t appreciated the way the young teen had come in.

“What’s this Lambo?”

“It’s from Skull! She’s touring! She invited us to the one that’s going to be here in Italy in a few months!” The boy rambled out, nearly jumping in place.

He had never seen any of Skull’s old work, but he liked her. She was always nice to him and listened to whatever he had to say, nothing like how the others have treated him. Skull was never bothered when he would come to her when she was in the garage working on her bike or a car that the mechanic’s couldn’t get too and even showed him how to do basic engine checks and oil changes.

“Can we go? I swear I’ll do really good in school and everything!”

While he noticed the weird way Reborn was sitting, he didn’t pay much attention, and it wasn’t until I-pin was tugging on his shirt that he noticed Reborn was staring at him.

Oh.

Ugh, what did he want.

“Is this the first time Skull contacts you?” the hitman asked, pulling the flier out of Tsuna’s hand and looking it over. In the forefront was Skull, crouched and holding her hand out in a peace sign with her tongue sticking out. Behind her were men and women dressed in clothes that depicted the job that they would be playing in this Circus tour, also in their own stances.

“No,” I-pin was the one that answered, “She sent us our Christmas presents.”

“She sent them pretty late,” Lambo added, earning a nudge from I-pin.

“She’s busy broccoli head.”

Reborn hummed, ignoring Lambo’s squawks of ‘ _what did you say to me’_. He looked over the dates and where they would be happening, noting the first one was coming up in Germany in just a few weeks.

Maybe it was time to pay Skull a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot to make a planner and performance spots for Skull. 
> 
> Sooooo guess who is gonna wing it.
> 
> (me...I'm going to wing it.)
> 
> Thank you all for reading!
> 
> Sorugao


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The song is Overkill by Motorhead if any of you are wondering. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has commented, liked, and bookmarked this story. I'm having way too much exploring this character and she reacts to the people around her. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!

Skull had wondered the camp grounds in disguise. She watched from her spot beside the kettle corn stand, observing the crowd of people. Some people had gone all out and dressed exactly like her, some sported purple hair or her wild makeup, others wore her t-shirts from years ago or the new ones that they bought from the merch stand.

There were old and young, some gossiping loudly, watching the other side acts.

A few of her students from the school came to her a few weeks ago, while others who had been under her scholarship volunteered to be a part of the work force that helped maintain the stands. That wasn’t counting the people she had hired in the area.

(It was nice to know that people appreciated what she had done and were willing to help her, even though it was completely unnecessary.)

There was an exclamation of surprise and Skull knew that there was a crowd around the fire performer’s.

Her watch beeped and she instantly silenced it, pushing off the stand and heading toward the big tent.

Her heartbeat felt loud and her fingers were shaking.

Nobody would see the way her eyes were glowing, nor the shade that extended itself from her shadow.

Time to get the show on the road.

+++

The lights dimmed down, the crowd becoming quiet as a voice began to speak.

_It has been a long time since its been like this_

A drumset started playing, a steady rock beat that some of the crowd recognized and cheered as they started bopping their heads.

_So let me remind those of old and show you new blood_

_How this begins!_

A guitar joined the drums as a motorcycle revved, the exhaust popping loudly before it drove full speed out of its little spot. The crowd screamed in anticipation as the screens showed the figure driving full on to a ramp and doing their first backflip.

The crowd sat on edge, some singing along to the song that began to play, watching intently at the easy beginning tricks and knowing that soon they’ll start getting harder.

It was after all how the Great Skull got her audience, she made you think it was all easy, until she pushed the simplest tricks to their limits, taking the few seconds she had to twist her body and force her bike to follow her movements.

**_Overkill!_ **

It was no easy feat, the bike outweighed her easily, but yet she managed the front flip, letting her body fly away from her bike with only her hands on the handle bars. The bike was tilting down from her and there was a gasp from the new comers, while others yelled _superwoman!_

She brought her legs down quickly, barely in the seat as she let the back wheel take the most weight on the landing, careful with the way she brought the front half down so it wouldn’t slow her down.

The crowd cheered when the song changed, another old metal song playing.

And the rest of the event went on, building up on the tension and expectation of the people, and making them holler when two more riders came out.

Skull smirked, eyes bright beneath her helmet.

This was what she lived for.

+++

Her legs felt like jello as she hopped off her bike, getting thumps on the back from her fellow riders.

“That was fan-fucking-tastic,” Skull uttered breathlessly, grinning widely as she hugged Masias and Dominque.

“And it’s only the beginning,” Dominique said, the woman’s voice muffled as she still had her helmet on.

The chant of ‘ _Skull’_ had all of them looking at each other, before Skull shrugged and put her helmet back on, “Got to give my people what they need!”

And the sound of the crowd as she rode out one last time was felt in their bones. Skull activated the microphone installed into her helmet, she thanked them all for coming, doing her ‘skater’ tricks on her motorcycle as she did so much to the amusement of the gathered people.

Masias and Dominique looked at the screen behind stage, shaking their heads, “How much you want to bet she doesn’t retire, even though she says she is?”

Masias pursed his lips, running a hand through his sweat slicked hair, “No bet, Skull retiring is like me being single, _impossible._ ”

Dominique huffed, rolling her eyes at her fellow stuntman, “I’ll ask someone else when I want a serious answer.”

Masias blinked, turning to look at the green eyed woman who was already moving away from, “What’s that supposed to mean!”

+++


	7. Chapter 7

Reborn made it to one of the opening nights of Skull’s tour, though he didn’t go see her perform.

(He would save himself the surprise when she was in Italy, for now he would just look around and try and understand why Skull had blown them off as she had.)

  
He could hear the crowd from where he was and he was quite happy with himself that he hadn’t made the decision to go in. Reborn instead continued to look around, now being able to get around better without the large crowds about. 

  
He stopped by one of the merch stands, where t-shirts, sweaters, buttons, flags and all kinds of stuff were emblazoned either with Skull’s name or her face. Some sported all of the main performers of the tour, while others had just the individual performers.

  
A small pamphlet caught his attention and he picked it up, slightly surprised that Skull had a charity foundation that helped those in need. Within the pamphlet were pictures of the people she had helped and had willingly come forward with their story and how because of the help of Skull’s foundation, they had a better opportunity at life. 

  
“Together We Go, huh?” He read the name of it again.

  
With a slight huff, he pulled out his wallet and pulled out a random bill, depositing in the box that that sat on the counter. The young man who was in charge of the stand, gave him a bright smile, before handing over a black and gold button with the name of the foundation printed on it. 

  
“Thank you for your donation!”

  
“Seems like it hasn’t been given much,” Reborn said, taking the button and looking at it. 

  
“You would think! But that’s the fourth box I’ve had to fold together tonight,” the young man told him, leaning against the counter. “Skull’s spent a lot of her off years putting together and promoting her charities and a lot of people know it’s not a bunch of crap like the one For The Women charity.”

  
Reborn had heard the news on that one, where the CEO had been found to be embezzling the money and not actually helping the people it had claimed to be made to help.   
This was news altogether, or maybe Skull had mentioned it and he hadn’t put much thought it into it. What with her personality it was sometimes too hard to tell if Skull was being honest or just over the top.

  
+++

  
Reborn waited around in Skull’s tent, making himself comfortable on her bed, while he looked about the room. It reminded him a little of Skull’s home, a little plain and boring, though he understood that they were on the move every few weeks so it could be attributed to that. 

  
No need to carry around any extra things if they weren’t necessary. 

  
The fact that it’s blandness reminded him of Skull’s home, made him question of how Skull saw her home.   
(Or the fact that that was the first time he had stepped foot in it.)

  
There was a rustling at the entrance and before he could even spook the Cloud, he heard the loud crackle of a tazer, and managed to avoid Skull’s punch in his general direction. 

  
“Oh it’s you,” was her tired response, dropping the small device in her hand. She gave him a cheeky grin crossing her arms across her chest, “I don’t normally hold fan visitations in my tent, but I guess for you Senpai anything is possible.”

  
Reborn didn’t react to what she said, deciding instead to get to the point of why he was here, “Why did you let your phone service expire.”

  
Skull stared at him, her cheeky grin fading away and pursing her lips in thought, “Hmm, I forgot about that.”

  
The hitman stared back, not deigning that with the obvious question. She shrugged, her hands coming up dramatically with the motion, before she placed them on her hips, “Once the Great Skull has a vision of what to do, everything else becomes nothing!”

  
“I can tell,” Reborn deadpanned, bringing out the folded pamphlet from earlier. “You’ve never mentioned this.”

Skull strode closer, eyes squinting to read the paper, and Reborn could feel his annoyance with the woman rising as she brought her face incredibly close to the paper. She nodded her head, deciding something for herself as she straightened up, “It never came up in conversation.”

  
He narrowed his eyes, deciding to stand up so he could look down at Skull, “You could have brought it up.”

  
She shrugged again, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, “Conversation never went that way, Senpai, plus,” she smiled, bringing her hands together and lacing her fingers together “It’s not important.”

  
“Then why do it if it’s not important, Lackey?”

  
Skull’s brow furrowed at that, head tilting slightly, “Senpai, I never said it’s not important to me,” she paused slightly, smiling in a way that didn’t sit well with him as she looked away. “I’m just saying it wasn’t important for any of you to know.”

  
+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank everyone for their comments ; v ;  
> and the constant kudos and liking of this ficlet.   
> I wasn't expecting it to get this much attention.
> 
> Also I've been meaning to post once again, but I kinda brained out because my classes started again last week and I had just assumed I did it already.
> 
> So here we are!
> 
> We'll eventually see why Skull thinks the way she does when it concerns the arcobaleno. (no surprise, they weren't exactly the nicest people to a 'civi', they do somewhat get better over time, but like they already set the tone for Skull to not really tell them important stuff.)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	8. Chapter 8

Reborn had left, seeming pissed off compared to how he had arrived.

Skull waited until she knew he was out of the grounds and then made sure none of his little insects had stayed behind. She stared down at the crumpled pamphlet, reaching down to pick it up and trying to straighten it out.

Setting it on top of her night stand, Skull went to change, wanting nothing more than to get out of the leather jumpsuit. As comfortable as it was and as much as she loved it, she was tired and the smell of it was starting to get to her.

She brought over a mirror once she finished changing, grabbing a cotton balls, makeup remover and the little plate to put all her piercings into. She scrunched her face up in the mirror, baring her teeth and accentuating the features she had covered in white and purple makeup.

“Time to un-Skull myself,” she muttered, starting with the piercings in her ear. The ear plugs were the first thing to take out, followed by the second piercings and her helix and industrial from her right ear. Next was the labret, which was covered in purple lipstick. She wiped it off before setting it down and then took out right eyebrow piercing, cleaned the white makeup off of that and lastly her septum and nose rings.

“I can’t believe young me thought I’d only have the septum,” she muttered under breath, remembering the first piercing she got and thought she would only get. “Now look at me,” she continued, pouring a large amount of makeup remover on the cotton ball, “I have them everywhere.”

She cleaned her eyes first, finding it hilarious when the makeup smeared at first and made it look like she’d been crying, “A clown, but a rocking one.”

“I should have bought wipes instead of all this,” she murmured after the fourth cotton ball, looking at the thing coated in purple and white. “Or a cloth.”

A cloth would be a better idea actually, she thought as she stood up and looked through one of her drawers. “Aha!” she pulled out a yellow cloth, bounced back into her bed and grabbed the makeup remover once more.

“Good bye ghost face!” Once her face was clean, she wondered if she should continue with her face cleaning. “I really should so my skin doesn’t scream at me a few days from now.”

But she was tired and it was obvious by her talking to herself.

She didn’t want to get up to go the bathroom just outside her tent, she picked up her water bottle and on a clean side of the cloth she poured some water on and wiped at her face, before reaching for the face cream beside her bed and dabbing a little on her face.

Skull looked at herself in the mirror one last time, a bit of guilt ebbing up, though she quickly put the mirror down and away from her. Scrunching her face, she poured the cleaner for her piercings into the bowl they were in and left them in there, deciding that morning Skull could deal with that problem.

As she laid down, closing her eyes, the brief regret of _I shouldn’t have done that_ flashed across her mind, sleeping claiming her as instantly as the thought happened.

+++

Skull woke up three hours later, gasping slightly, her eyes searching the darkness, before she tried to calm herself down.

“A dream,” she muttered, kicking off the sheets and half mindlessly grabbing the bowl and heading the restroom outside. No one would be up now as most would be in a deep sleep, exhausted after last night's show. There would be a two day break, though the rest of the site would be open for everyone to come and enjoy the other festivities planned.

She dumped the cleaner solution down the drain in the restroom, setting the bowl on the makeshift counter down so she could splash her face with water. Ignoring the bigger mirror in here, she went back to her room, plopping down on her bed and began cleaning her earrings with another cloth she had snagged out of her dresser.

“Okay feelings! I get it, I feel bad for talking to Reborn like that!” she suddenly let out, dropping the bowl and towel and letting herself fall back into her bed. “But it’s the truth! He didn’t even come to see me perform! He just came to see what was happening because he has to know what I’m doing.”

Skull grit her teeth, feeling her eyes burn slightly, “Like I’m just the silly civilian in over my head, who has to be watched over.”

“Maybe it’s my fault,” she said after a while, turning onto her side and curling up, a pillow in her arms to hold. “They only care sometimes, when it’s for them.”

Hadn’t that been proven?

Colonello would have never sought her out, unless it was a last resort. Reborn only came to find her because she was probably missing out on those stupid arcobaleno meetings they decided to have.

Skull blinked slowly, closing her eyes and burrowing her face into her pillow, “I hate feelings so much.”

+++

After getting sleep that didn’t have her waking up and feeling terrified, Skull felt refreshed. Then again if Skull had gone to bed actually prepared, she could go days without sleep and be the wonderfully energetic person she was. (1)

(She really should be more consistent with her potion taking.)

Not that she would actually start that habit now, so early into the tour, things would just get weird and she didn’t need her sleep schedule thrown off any more than it should be.

She stepped out of her tent, taking a deep breath of the crisp morning air, before heading to the restroom.

It was time to get ready for the day and be the Great Skull.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, can I just say that those of you who left reviews are wonderful? ;o; like you're all way too nice and give me too many feelings. And then the likes, it always makes my day. 
> 
> (1) If Skull had her potions or hadn't been ruffled up by Reborn, she would have been okay for her sleep. And she can also go days without sleeping, but like she said, why ruin her sleep schedule so early on? 
> 
> (that was a quiet @ me, for staying up until 6am every other day, I'm the real clown here)
> 
> Okay if you've gotten this far, I have forgotten to mention i have tumblr! its sorugao_bandgeek.tumblr.com 
> 
> If you ever want to shoot me a message I'm all game! :D ao3 doesn't have the best messaging system so, yeah. If not I understand!
> 
> Other than that! I hope you enjoyed reading about a small part of Skull's daily routine. 
> 
> Until next time~


	9. Chapter 9

Packing up was always the worst, Skull thought as she helped around the grounds. She had already packed up her tent, along with all her things putting them by the moving truck that would be carrying all of the personal belongings as well as anything else that needed to be fit there.

They were leaving from Berlin to Austria and it was a nine hour drive to St. Polten. At the most they would take two to three days to get there as they would be doing short meet and greets in Leipzig, Nuremburg, Munich and Salzburg before getting to St Polten.

Originally they were supposed to drive through Czechia, but Skull had had a Mafia incident in Prague that would have had several people trying to get her.

Luckily she had kept her nose clean in many of the places they were visiting (in general she kept her hands _clean_ of Mafia involvement.)

It was enough that some of the jobs she had taken on in the beginning as an arcobaleno to make up for the lack of steady income and she had brushed off a lot of famiglias from trying to ‘claim’ her by playing the obnoxious, terrible-mafiosa Skull.

She had always done the jobs assigned to her in a way that didn’t leave the Boss-of-the-Month happy as they had wanted _other_ ways for her to accomplish it.

Most didn’t get back to her, though those like the Carcassa just craved to have someone of some sort of significance to improve their standing.

(How their standing could get better with _her_ with them, she had no clue. She was the weakest of the seven; did they really want a so-called weakling?)

After making sure that everything was packed up and ready to go, she boarded the bus that would be driving them from site to site, instantly going to stretch out the bunk bed she had claimed earlier.

“Who the hell farted?”

The smell reached her and Skull could only think that that was _nothing_ compared to dung bombs.

+++

Harry checked his calendar and noted it was the 22nd of March and wondered what his sister was up too. He pulled out the journal she had gifted him for his birthday and though they rarely chatted through it, it was nice to know that in an emergency Charlotte could be reached.

It had been their way of communicating sine she started working with the Muggle Circus as she had grown against receiving owls and he could understand that. How could she have explained to anyone how the same owl happened to find her no matter where she was?

_How are you Charlie?_

He put the journal aside, knowing that it would take a while for his sister to respond back and returned to grading the essays he had assigned his class over the weekend. He knew his sister was caught up in her traveling Circus and though it hurt to think about it, how well _was_ she really doing?

When she came over she never really spoke about her endeavors, no more than she was singing and learning instruments so she could be able to play for her own sideshow. That was no lie as there happened to be a guitar and piano that was tucked away until she came around and she would sing and play for them whatever it was they asked for.

But the fact that she hadn’t ever invited them to see her perform did it hurt. He would like to go support her, even if she was a minor sideshow and it seemed to be something she loved to do.

So imagine his surprise when he opens the journal an hour later there’s response, his sister’s loopy writing reading,

_C: Good! We’re on the road right now heading to Austria! Things are getting very exciting. Also I may ask Fred for some dung bombs so people know what a bad smell really is >:-D _

_C: The trope is doing a performance in England sometime in June, ask the family if they want to come see and I’ll get some comp tickets sent over :D_

_C: But yes :)! How are you brother? Students driving you crazy yet?_

Harry snorted, feeling excited for some odd reason, responding in his own chicken scratch,

_H: I’ll fire call Molly and the others later today, see what they say._

_Please stay safe, Ron says there’s been a lot of incidents around Austria, Czechia and Italy, at least from the reports he gets from tse Auror offices._

_H: I’m fine as well, just finishing up on grading some essays. Hah! I’ve been at this for nearly fifteen years now Charlie, none of these kids could give me the grey hairs that we gave our Professors._

She responded right away and the two spent the next hour or so writing back and forth.

_C: Well we’re making a stop, I’ll talk to you later Harry! Love you <3 Say hi to everyone for me! :D_

“Will do, Charlie,” he murmured what he wrote out, before charming his quill to draw a crude drawing of himself, waving at his sister.

+++

“You really did it?” Teddy’s voice would have been loud, had Skull not put the volume down before hand and she was thankful for that.

“Yeah, I’m debating if I should invite Dudley, but our communication has been off and on,” her cousin hadn’t been the best people to grow alongside with, though thankfully he had come to realize around their early teens that the way they were treated wasn’t the best.

“You don’t have to say it’s you, can say he won some free tickets or whatever,” Teddy said and she could actually get behind that idea.

“I’ll see if I can find his address again, I know last time I spoke to him he was planning on moving out of Surrey.”

“Are you nervous?”

Teddy heard her breath in heavily, “A little, they’ve never seen this side of me, it’s going to be fun.” He nodded, shifting so that he could hold up his cellphone with his shoulder, ignoring the questionable look that the moving poster of Skull behind him gave him, before rolling her eyes and went back to doing a wheelie on her motorcycle.

“Well, the kids will love it for sure.”

She laughed, voice muffled for a second as she chewed on something, “Yeah, can you imagine them thinking how non magicals can do this without magic?”

“Hermione’s kids probably won’t be as surprised, though they’ve never been to anything like your shows.”

He’d seen the tapes that his Godmother would show him when she would visit, even when she was in her cursed form. Teddy felt a little honored that his finicky, tight lipped, ‘ _I’m eloping with myself to fuck off knows where’_ Godmother trusted him that much.

How she pulled off presenting herself normally while under the curse to the others must have taxed her beyond any type of exhausted he had ever felt.

She laughed again and he felt himself smile, looking at himself in the mirror as his hair turned purple and unruly, purple eyes gleaming just as bright.

“What about Draco Malfoy?”

The silence that came over the fall made Teddy feel guilty, “He hasn’t spoken to me in a decade, Teddy, I -” she admitted in a soft voice, before trailing off. She picked up to drink something, apologizing as she accidentally slurped and cursing over an ice cube spilling onto her lap.

“Luna managed me a letter the other day, hilarious,” she brought up after a while and Teddy nodded, humming so that she could continue. “It was one of the posters and her letter said, _rocking the purple as always._ ”

“Of course she would.”

“So Luna’s probably already bought her ticket and I’m debating over asking Neville and Hannah,” she trailed off, he heard her moving around, picking up her trash and thanking the people of wherever it was she was at. “I still need to keep them a secret, Teddy, I want them to know, but they can’t talk about it, they’ll be in danger.”

Ah, yeah, the Mafia.

“You’ll figure it out.”

He heard her scoff, “Yeah, thanks.”

“Anytime!”

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a paper and eight lesson plans to write due on wednesday.
> 
> I'm...not wanting to do that. :( So here is a chapter.
> 
> Thank you all to the kind words and likes! I am glad you're all liking this! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D


	10. Chapter 10

After the trapeze act of Dylan and Marcella accompanied by Rodrigo and Elena to bring in the whole story of Sleeping Beauty they were trying to tell, the audience was given an intermission of twenty minutes while the staging area was reset.

Skull shook out her hands, feeling the nerves fill her once again, but this time for a different reason. It would be the first night of her singing and the songs she would be covering with her bandmates were well known.

(If anything Skull was a little _too_ excited to perform Lady Gaga and may have gone a little overboard in learning most of her songs.

Tyler, the guitarist convinced her that it would be more than okay for her to do an hour or so of different genres rather than focusing on a specific theme.)

Which led to outfit changes, though thankfully there was only one happening that night. Things wouldn’t get more dramatic and memorable until the very end and even then she would wonder how she would continuously be topping each performance.

The call for the show went out and she kneeled on the platform that would be raising her up.

“Glow sticks were handed out?” she mouthed, getting a thumb up from one of the techs. “Alright lets go~”

Not even five minutes later she was given the thumbs up from Martha and Skull began talking into her headset,

“Now some of you may be wondering, what could possibly be happening?” she chuckled as the crowd cheered at hearing her voice, the chant for ‘Skull, Skull, Skull’ began. “Many of you have been wondering why for every ticket purchased you were asked for a song recommendation – well my thrill seekers here we are!”

“Now I hope you all know I’m versatile as _hell_ , so let’s get ready to scream!”

The first song was one that she wanted to make a point with, the mellow rhythm of the guitar before it the drum set and bass came in to deliver the heavy seeming blow.

“I remember syrup sandwiches and crime allowances,” she started, trying not to smirk as she caught certain people screaming and beginning their head banging. It wasn’t until she got to the screaming part that she felt that she connected with the crowd.

“Sit down, be humble.”

When she got to the end, the bright lights went out, she spoke again, “Some fans might remember me from my singing days and this tour is exploring all that I’ve done, so let’s enjoy the rest of this show and get it going!”

A chill rock groove was started by the drum set player the guitarist coming in a few beats later on a descending line. The lights came on low, fog filling the stage as she walked up to the one mic stand that one of the stage hands had set up while the lights off.

“A night of rock n roll, unless I decide to change it, how do we all feel about that?!”

There was a cheer and Skull smirked, “She rides, Let loose upon the world –“

The rest of the night continued on in that line, the crowd cheering and singing along with her. There was a moment were she got off the stage and onto the crowd, a circle forming around her as she began to sing to the people around her.

Walking through the crowd, shaking hands, Skull was free and happy, more so when she would get the random hair ruffle or overenthusiastic pat on the back.

It wasn’t until midway when the lights dimmed out again, a curtain appearing around her that the true change in the show started. The pop beat started and those in the crowd who recognized it started yelling,

_Slay me Skull! Damn Queen!’_

Vanilla scented fog began to sprout heavily around her, hiding the bedazzled purple body suit she wore and only walked out of the fog after she started, “It doesn’t matter if you love him or capital H.I.M….just put your paws up, cause you were born this way baby….”

“My momma told me when I was young”

The change was taken well, the people bouncing in place, the glow sticks that were handed out earlier coming in handy as people fist pumped to the beat.

_‘Don’t be a drag, just be a queen!’_ the crowd chanted with her, some people pushing up to the stage in hopes of Skull giving them her hand. Without a second thought, she reached over, passing by people and high fiving them as she sang, spinning in a specific spot and doing the dance moves that Elena had helped her develop, the backup dancers that came up at this point following her point.

“I’m beautiful in my way ‘cause God makes no mistakes!”

The song ended with the backup dancers all touching her at certain points of body. A back track of brass instruments started, accompanied by a snare,

“Had to have high, high hopes for a living!”

+++

When Skull got of stage, she got everyone that performed in a group hug. Tears fell from her eyes as she felt her heart soar that this had worked out as well as it did.

The beginning may have been a bit slow, but she wanted to sing the songs where she started. It wouldn’t do well for her to not be able to entertain people if that’s what she lived for. She kissed everyone briefly on the cheek, tears falling from her eyes as her first singing performance ended.

When the crowd chanted for her, she gestured for all of them all to come out, though her fellow performers had her stand more upfront than them.

They all bowed as one and the last face anyone saw on the big screens was Skull’s big smile, “ _Thank you and Goodnight!”_

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs: Humble cover by Our Last Night  
>  She Rides - Danzig  
>  Born This Way - Lady Gaga
> 
> I might do another quick update seeing as this one was short. Let's see how the groove hits me. I probably won't go to in depth about Skull's performance again, though there might be one more.
> 
> If you guys would like to have a playlist of the music that I'm going to have her singing through, let me know. I have all the songs written down and I can make a quick spotify playlist.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Sorugao


	11. Chapter 11

Skull picked through a song on guitar, one that she remembered hearing around the time the curse broke. She didn’t necessarily remember the lyrics, but the ease that which it came to her made her calm. She was glad that at least the nightmare she had that night had happened on the campgrounds.

It was the last few days of staying in Austria, the next stop for her would be Croatia where she would be having a racing relay the second weekend of April, before heading off to Italy.

“You’re thinking too much,” she murmured underneath her breath, pulling a face when she struck a wrong chord. “I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

She set the guitar aside, standing up from her bed and pacing the room. How many times before had they told her to keep her nose out of their business? How many times in the beginning when she tried to get along with them did they turn away from her?

So what if now since the curse broke they were trying to be better? They had still rejected her, hadn’t stood up for her when people would point her out as the weakling.

The whites of her eyes flashed purple and she took a deep breath, stretching her arms above her and moving onto her tip toes. She planted her feet firmly as she brought her arms down, rolling down so her finger tips could touch the floor, while murmuring words in latin.

_Animamea – Spiritus meus – Mea mens – mea_

She walked forward on her hands, holding the position, still murmuring words as she laid down on the floor. A deep breath and she raised her upper half, keeping her lower half against the floor.

_Non propria me - Nemo umquam erit_

By the time she was done, she had repeated the phrases over a dozen times and her mind felt much more settled. Skull let herself relax against the floor.

…maybe

No.

They may not have all treated her the same, but the others hadn’t spoken up for her and if they had, she didn’t know.

She hated the quiet, this was the reason she was always fiddling with something or going out of her way to keep busy. Too many thoughts, way too many thoughts that had no business being in her mind and bothering her at – she checked the time – and groaned, “Three in the morning.”

She needed to start making her potions again, she had thought she could hold out for the week, but it seemed that wouldn’t be the case.

+++

_2001_

She had taken Checkered Face invitation with a smile – a confused, curious smile – but a smile nonetheless. When she had arrived at the set location she was reminded of Draco’s home and how ostentatious it was.

Why have such a home in the middle of nowhere?

She had been almost twenty at that time, her popularity sky rocketing and her name being spread around the world. At first she had been unsure of how she would feel about the fame, but stepping into it as Skull and enjoying that fact that she had worked herself up to this point made the attention less troublesome.

(It wasn’t a school full of people who didn’t understand, who had set expectations for a boy claimed as a hero who never even knew he was one to begin with. There was nothing extra she had to do to prove herself, she just allowed herself to feel and react, to enjoy and have others experience her love of free falling, of twisting in the air, of pulling off impossible acts.

She was great in her own way.

No one would ever take that from her, nor would they make her feel less for it.)

When she met them that first time, she had assumed it was just first time nerves. First impressions weren’t all that important anyways, it was the follow up, the care that someone took to realize that perhaps they had messed up.

That never happened.

Reborn had given her one look, before instantly dismissing her. Viper was unreadable, until the point they murmured about a fee for wasting their time. Fong was quiet, a smile aimed at her, but she could see in his eyes he did not mean it. Verde was ticking, drumming his fingers against his arm as if having to wait an extra two minutes for her to walk up the stairs was a problem. Lal was curt, looking the strict military woman that she was. Luce was warm and brilliant, a kindness in her smile that made Skull’s stomach twist.

She took a seat beside Reborn, rolling her shoulders back in hopes of easing the tension she felt. The minor introductions happened and she, to break up the rather tense atmosphere, gave one of her winning smiles,

“I’m the Great Skull, pleasure to meet you,” her American accent was perfect and she felt herself buzz in delight.

There was a muffled cough from Verde, “You can laugh,” she said, tilting her head and smiling at the green haired man. “Though I don’t know what exactly you’re laughing at.”

“Now, let’s not start arguing and talk about why we’re here,” Luce cut in as Verde looked as if he was about to say something. “We were invited to be a part of the Il Prescelti Sette, but to gain the title we must prove ourselves by completing certain tasks.”

Skull rested her elbows against the table, listening to Luce talk, wondering if the others were also getting a bad feeling from this.

“- one of the tasks could be to prove the quality of our flames –“

“Flames?” she picked the word that didn’t fit in the sentence and had an entire room turn to look at her. She pursed her lips in almost comical manner and looked away, her hand coming up to cover the side of her face.

“You do know what flames are, right Skull?” Luce asked, her smile less sincere and looking more strained.

She rubbed her lips together in thought, before bringing her hand down and shaking her head, “The man in the mask only said to show up, he didn’t mention anything about flames.”

Skull watched the others, not exactly happy with their reactions, but also not entirely too disappointed. She gave them a bland smile, too familiar with this situation and glad that she at least knew how this was going to go.

Even if they eventually said that she didn’t belong, she would stay.

Checkered Face asked this and she knew the moment she accepted the invitation, there was no going back.

She couldn’t help but think, _do any of_ you _understand what you’ve signed up for?_

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, it's currently 1am. I'll double check the writing again tomorrow just so that it makes sense.
> 
> The song Skull is picking through is Soldier, Poet, King by The Oh Hellos.  
> Animamea - Spiritus meus - mea mens - mea (my soul, my spirit, my mind, mine.)  
> Non propria me - Nemo umquam erit (Don't own me - no one will ever be)
> 
> I should have written this down when I first made these lines because I am unsure of the second part of the second latin phrase. 
> 
> John Rutter inspired this all btw, I had Magnificat and Pie Jesu on repeat.
> 
> (Also I just listened to Chromatica and Skull will definitely not stop singing her any time soon. Chromatica II & III have my heart and the way they segway into the following songs is wonderfully done.)
> 
> Thanks, hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> Sorugao


	12. Chapter 12

_2001_

There had been a binding on that invitation, one that Skull noticed immediately. She may not have dabbled on bindings (only enough to help her with the Triwizard Tournament), but she knew the feeling of magic.

Whatever magic the man had used was powerful and old, ancient and knowing in a way that she knew her own would never be able to overcome it. She could have said no and he would have respected that, or at least she would like to believe he would have.

It was a life changing moment, one where she had considered if she really wanted to do it.

_“I’ll go.”_

Currently she was staring at herself in the mirror, looking over her natural face and wrinkling her nose as she quietly uttered a “Fuck you, Viper,” and began to put on her makeup.

Did she have to put it on? No.

Had the others seen her already without makeup? Yes.

Was she putting it on so she could feel more in control of what _she_ wanted to do? …yes.

Putting on the foundation that left her skin looking shades paler than her natural tan, before applying the purple eyeshadow, Skull came alive, or at least in this moment she did. It wasn’t often that she willingly looked in the mirror, only using it long enough to brush her teeth, put on her makeup and be done with it.

“Eyeliner?” she hummed to herself, looking at the black liner “nah,” and put it away in her bag. She blew herself a kiss, because no one else would before sauntering out of her room with her duffle bag in hand. As she was heading down the stairs, she passed by Luce’s daughter, who startled at Skull’s look.

“You’re leaving?”

“Uh, yeah, good morning to you too,” Skull said, watching as the teenager started following her downstairs. “I have a gig in Hollywood in four days; I don’t want to be jet lagged.”

“Did you tell the others?”

Her words while not necessarily meaning anything, made Skull’s insides freeze, before feeling as if they were on fire, “I didn’t realize I had to do that.”

The twelve year old pursed her lips, “You should before you get in trouble.”

Fong and Lal were currently in sitting room as they heard that, one minded his business and the other one adjusted her hand so that her book was level to see Aria and Skull just above the top of the book.

“Maybe that’s what you have to do Princess,” Skull started, her voice the same, but something was different. “But I do what I want, now bye~”

She had to leave before the heat in her body escaped her and hurt a child. Neither Fon nor Lal stopped her though it was obvious they heard. It’s not like they could just ignore it. Maybe someone would tell her off when she came back, or start those training sessions to make her a ‘proper cloud’.

Nobody saw the way her lips curled into a sneer, eyes flashing entirely purple.

If they thought they could force _her,_ Charlotte Liliana Potter, to do _anything_ , well they were in for a rude surprise.

+++

_Present_

Croatia had been wonderful

(The circuit she had drove was even better, not to mention the _fantastic_ amount of motorcycles and cars that came.

The 1968 912 model Porsche had been to die for and she nearly cried when the woman who owned it let her drive it. What Skull hadn’t been expecting was for the older woman to ask to be in the passenger seat and demanded that Skull ‘floor it.’

There was no need to tell her twice.)

Now that she was on her own, she felt free enough to be able to pick up the ingredients that she needed for her dreamless draught potion. Honestly she was getting tired of her mind taking her to those memories, but she was at least glad it wasn’t _those_ memories.

She slipped easily into the magical society of Croatia, making sure that her purple hair was covered by a beanie. Entering the nearest apothecary that she could spot, she placed an order for the needed items as well as a few other ingredients that she needed and only waited a few minutes before she paid the amount due.

After saying farewell Skull stepped out of the shop, glanced at her acquired stuff and then sighed, pouting slightly, “Now I have to cook this, don’t I?”

As much as she liked brewing potions, finding a private place to make them where no one would question the odd smells coming out of her tent was always a problem.

“Bugger man,” she had a few days before she was expected to meet back up with the others. Originally Martha had bought her a ticket to board a boat to sail to Rome, but Skull had refunded that. She was going to get nagged at, but Martha would understand. She obviously wouldn’t be happy, but Martha would understand.

“I’ll brew somewhere in the woods.”

It wouldn’t be the first, nor last time she would do that. She just hoped she didn’t miss the opening date in Rome – which she highly doubted she would. While she may be cutting it close, she always made it with enough time to spare.

(She was definitely going to get nagged, some people just didn’t understand living life on the edge.)

+++

Finding a decent spot to pullover and that no one would be able to come upon her was easy (honestly she had way too much experience in hiding and running away.)

She began to set her spot up for the next few hours.

The fire was already going and she was going through her bag and laying out the ingredients. Skull was careful with the large snow glob she thought upon, drumming her fingers against the top of it, which earned the attention of the tiny octopus that was inside, “Let’s get you out, sweetie.”

The globe expanded, the upper half disappearing and the octopus within growing to a larger size, wiggling its tentacles in excitement at Skull.

“You can stretch your legs out now, Oodako,” she murmured softly to the octopus, petting the top of her head softly with one hand while with the other she brought out at pot that also grew to a large size and placed it over the fire she had started. Instead of exploring the area, Oodako reached out to Skull, wrapping two tentacles around her neck and shoulder to haul herself out of the globe she was in.

“I’m going to smell like fish now, thanks,” Skull grumbled, not at all minding the way her tank top got soaked with water. “At least it’s not my jacket.”

“Now, let’s see our witchy ways,” she bopped Oodako’s beak, who made an odd trilling sound, bringing up another tentacle and also bopping Skull on her nose. “Hm, yes, quite right.”

Oodako mimicked Skull holding out her hands, tentacles wiggling as Skull’s fingers wiggled, hovering over the ingredients that she needed to start with, “Are you mocking me?” The octopus bopped its head against her cheek, “Of course you are, my weird little squid, I missed you too.”

Every time she got busy with things, Oodako had a tendency to be placed aside, though Skull did try her best to give her animal companion attention. She still made time for her whenever she had downtime and could relax in her tent without anyone barging in with her cuddling sessions with Oodako.

“Soon I’ll be sleeping like a baby,” Skull hummed, chopping the valerian sprigs up before she began adding everything in. “A well-rested Skull will be....” Skull paused, squinting her eyes as she looked around her set and sighing. “Where’s my wand?”

Did she accidentally add it to the fire?

Oodako chirped, bringing a familiar stick of wood into her sight and Skull sighed, “You are the most awesome.” Warmth seeped through her fingers as she grasped her wand, a quiet hum of greeting which never failed to bring a smile to Skull’s face. “Alright ladies, let’s get to work.”

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've realized I kinda forgot about Oodako and that is such a bad thing on my part. :(
> 
> So have some Oodako at the end. Skull's making excuses for me forgetting. 
> 
> Aria here is already born, she's in her early teens and we'll see a little more of her. I know that's not how it goes in canon, but it's how it's going to work out for this story :D
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has like this!
> 
> Sorugao


	13. Chapter 13

“Where have you been?”

She had made it into the lot the morning of the first show, thankfully she wasn’t performing that night, though she did have to set up for the short music act she would be doing in one of the open stalls. The jukebox idea seemed fun and she was honestly looking forward to what people –

“Skull? Earth to Skull?”

She blinked, smiling sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head, “I was….riding around.” The unamused look Martha gave her was enough to make Skull feel slightly bad, if only a teensy bit. She gestured out with her arms, moving her hands dramatically, “But I am here! So no longer fear Martha~”

That earned her a deadpanned stare, the curly haired woman shaking her head, “Honestly.” Skull merely smiled brightly, throwing an arm around Martha’s shoulders. “At least you made it on time.”

“I’m always on time,” Skull said, ignoring the way Martha coughed. “How could I miss Elena, Dylan’s and Marcella’s performance tonight?”

Martha rolled her eyes, putting an arm around Skull’s waist as they began to walk towards the arena that would be serving as the main performance area, “They’ve been rehearsing with the fire act they’re going to incorporate tonight, I’m sure you’ll be surprised.”

“Speaking of rehearsing, Triple T wants to go over a few songs with you before playing tonight,” Martha pulled out her phone, scrolling through a list of tasks. “I’m glad you got here early in the morning, instead of just before everything started.”

Another judging look was cast at Skull, who smiled cheerfully as she lightly shook Martha, “I’m glad I’m here too~” She pulled away from Martha before the woman could poke her side, “I’ll go find the boys, I don’t think we need much to go over much anyway, we had a good sesh before I left for Croatia.”

“You guys are here, they should be set up there already,” Martha showed her a map of the grounds, pointing to spot AB that was near the food concessions.

“Alright, I’ll go, want to grab some lunch after all this?”

Martha smiled, “How about I catch you at the show with some dinner instead? I’m helping Joe with one of the stands, since Marie is sick.”

“Marie is….she has half blue, half purple hair right?” Skull ruffled her own hair, pulling at the ends which now were way past her shoulder now and idly thinking she needed a haircut.

“Yeah, she went out to eat last night and it didn’t sit well with her.”

“Oh, I know that feeling,” Skull murmured, her hand going to her stomach and patting it lightly. “The ultimate betrayal.”

Martha rolled her eyes, giving Skull a brief squeeze, “Here’s my spot, I’ll see you later.”

“See you~”

Skull watched her duck through the flaps of the back of a tent, hands now resting on her hips as she searched the area for what could probably be her area for the day.

+++

It was nearing the end of the first week in Rome and Skull had been filled with slight relief that she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Vongola.

(She wondered if Reborn had made a comment about coming, but she doubted it.

He wasn’t _that_ petty and Tsuna wasn’t so spineless.

At least not anymore.)

“You guys are ten types of amazing,” Skull said, half turning on the stool she sat on to glance at the players behind her. There was a mash of instruments that had been set up, a small DJ like booth in the back, the drum set off to the side. The bass guitar was in the middle and the guitarist who also doubled as the pianist, were opposite the drum set.

Skull had her own guitar, though they hadn’t had someone choose a song that would require for them to use the piano.

Which was sad, Tyler was pretty good.

“If we’re that amazing, what does that make you?” Tyler asked, taking the lull in the moment to drink some water.

Skull shrugged, giving them a cheeky grin, “I’m okay.”

The drum set player snorted, “Yeah, sure, just okay.”

“You’re like super talented, Great Skull,” Tyler said, getting a laugh out of Skull for referring to her in such a way. “No seriously, like I read you history, it’s pretty awesome.”

“And that’s a lot coming from, Tyler,” the drum set player, who laughed as some water was sprayed over at him. _Shut up Trevor, damn._ “Oi, don’t waste water, we’re here for another hour idiot.”

“You guys can noodle away, until someone comes up,” Skull said, enjoying the banter, finding it familiar though the context was different. “Hey, hey, do you guys like jazz?”

The way she said it had the bass player groaning, a hand coming up to cover his face as he tried to hide the smile, “I think we’re missing a few elements to be able to do that.”

“We can do some combo stuff, Tristan,” Trevor said, switching out his sticks for some wiry looking ones. “Until someone hits up the jukebox.”

“This makes me sad that I don’t know piano,” Skull pouted watching as Tyler moved over to the piano. She tapped her foot in time to the music they started playing. It was very mellow and about halfway through she realized what it was they were playing, though instead of singing along she just bopped her head.

It wasn’t as slow as the first few days had been and Skull wondered if maybe she should have told Martha to pick a spot more north, closer to France.

There was a beep, letting them know that someone outside had selected a song. The band got softer, Trevor’s drumming style changing slightly to fit the selected song. With a beaming smile, Skull pulled up the blinds that were hiding them from the sun, starting her rendition of L-O-V-E.

If she hadn’t been in performance mode, she would have reacted to Lambo and I-pin standing there, the boy’s eyes wide as he realized who it was singing. She sent him a wink, giving a wave to the adults behind him.

She didn’t see Reborn around Tsunayoshi or his guardians, pushing the thought (and relief) that he didn’t show up aside.

“Oh it’s Skull!” shouted a voice behind them, getting the attention of the people who were nearby. Some made their way around the group, picking a song, and waiting for the ‘jukebox’ to do its thing. Of the songs listed she was somewhat surprised to have someone pick Dolly Parton.

_Somewhere a river of happiness flows_

(How do Italians know about Dolly? Was she worldwide? The list she had was because she had spent more time performing in America than anything else.)

Apparently the person that had chosen the song started sniffling and Skull gestured out for them, putting an arm around them as they came close. She whispered a few comforting words after singing, earning a tight hug before they pulled away and the next song started.

“What a contrast,” she said into the mic, earning laughter from the crowd as the beat dropped.

_Do you feel like a young god?_

The cut off was at six tonight and though people groaned, she merely said to catch her later at the main event. Closing the blinds, she locked them in place, somewhat glad that this booth was different than the others.

“Awesome job~” she ruffled their hair, earning a groan from Trevor and Tyler. Tristan merely smiled, before throwing wet towels on their sweaty faces. “Cool off and eat guys.”

“Rock on tonight, Skull!”

She gave them a peace sign, heading the opposite direction of them and towards the large stadium. She had thought that the Vongola kids would try and talk to her, but they hadn’t interrupted her, merely waving goodbye at her as they moved on to another attraction.

As she stepped through the doors that would lead her to the back room, Skull began to feel the excitement kick in. In the lighting of the backstage area, no one would question why her eyes seemed to be glowing.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs in the story:
> 
> L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole  
> River of Happiness by Dolly Parton  
> Young God by Halsey
> 
> Sorry that this chapter took a little longer to come around, I started working again and I've kinda been a bit too tired to focus on this as I've been putting most of my energy on my other story (which is making me want to FLIP the table, because my brain doesn't understand Gokudera's Sistema CAI and I'm just like ahWOOps.)
> 
> Anyways!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has commented, kudo'd bookmarked this! I am honestly surprised! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and if there's anything iffy or weird (or just weird grammer/sentences) let me know!
> 
> Sorugao


	14. Chapter 14

_2001_

“So you’re a little carnie?” Verde asked Skull, who was sitting on the couch, ignoring what was on TV as it was Luce who had chosen the channel. A woman on screen cried out to the man, batting her pretty eyes and begging him to stay. “I’ve heard of your accidents.”

Skull felt a chill run up her spine, “You do know things are exaggerated.” She lifted her head to give Verde a bright smile, “All for the purpose of promotion!~ Now look, _I’m pop~u~lar~”_

The look the green haired man gave her was a cross of disgust and unimpressed and she realized she preferred that over the manic gleam in his eye when he had started talking to her.

_Don’t let the creepy scientist find out you can’t die._

He gave her calculating glance over, sighing as he sat back, “To think you would have been interesting then.”

“Oi, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Even you can realize you don’t bring much to the table,” Verde deadpanned, one of his hands drumming a random rhythm against the back of the couch. “You’re not exactly what the others say a Cloud should be.”

“You guys can be your own getaway driver then,” she sniffed, crossing her arms against her chest. She let her head fall back against the couch, closing her eyes because she felt a sting there and she wasn’t about to start crying.

Sometimes she wondered who the bigger asshole was, Verde or Reborn.

“It’s not like Viper or Lal can’t do it.”

“You guys can’t afford Viper half the time,” Skull deadpanned, turning her head and squinting at Verde with one of her eyes. “Lal crashed the shit out of the SUV they highjacked.”

Verde looked at the woman before him, his glasses sliding down his nose as he did. Her purple hair was down, instead of pulled up into a messy bun, the ends brushing past her shoulders. She wasn’t wearing her ridiculous makeup and the only piercings she wore were the one in her septum and beneath her lip.

Bare faced Skull was rather pleasant to look at with her lightly tanned skin, and a light dusting of freckles on her face and shoulders from times she had probably gone out in the sun without sunscreen.

“Stop looking at me like that, it’s weird,” Skull said, lifting her head as she shifted away from him. “Luce make him stop.”

The older woman merely hummed, giving the pair a pleasant smile, “No fighting you two.”

“Fighting? No one is fighting!” Skull seemed to puff up, purple eyes wide, her face expressing surprise. “He’s the one being weird, honestly –“ someone bopped Skull over the head, who instantly whirled on the abuser, “You! I thought you’d be gone longer!”

Reborn refrained from rolling his eyes, ignoring Skull and tipping his head in Luce’s direction, before he proceeded to head upstairs to his room. At the moment he was too tired for the broken Cloud’s antics, he would deal with that when he was less easy to annoy.

Verde took Reborn disappearing upstairs as his cue to leave, flicking the back of Skull’s head, finding it a little funny the way she yelped at the sudden shock.

“Lu~ce~,” Skull whined, draping herself over the arm rest, stretching her legs out on the couch. “Why are they so mean?”

The Sky offered her a kind smile, “I wouldn’t say they’re mean, they’ve just been made that way.” Everyone there has had a life that had shaped them to the person they are today and if they happened to be a little meaner than most people, that was fine.

It was understandable.

Skull scoffed, hiding her face in her arms.

_What a piss poor excuse to be awful people._

+++

_Present_

“Skull!!” Lambo cheered, waving a sign with Skull’s face on it.

He could feel the drum beat deep in his bones, the way the guitar riffed making his fingers tremble. His breath caught in his throat as Skull shot out from one of the staging areas, on a smaller motorcycle than he usually saw her on.

“Are you all ready for this!?” the voice was definitely Skull’s, the screens set up panning to her figure as she circled the grounds. She let go of the handlebars, straightening up and raising her hands to get the crowd to make more noise.

It was deafening.

She hit the first ramp fast and Lambo thought she would do one flip, but _no_. She did three quick backflips, the back tire taking the landing. She brought the front down easily, pushing the throttle and then suddenly breaking, making the bike tip forward onto the front wheel.

Lambo watched in awe as she managed a cart wheel, whooping loudly when she repeated the action before she took off to another ramp. I-pin was beside him, waving a flag, while Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto watched in surprise at the tricks being done.

“…so she wasn’t joking,” Gokudera muttered, watching as she balanced on the top edge of a ramp, hopping along the edge before she let it fall back down. There were rings set up above them and they watched as she gained speed to launch herself through the five rings, touching down on the other side.

“I wonder what that thing in the middle is for,” Yamamoto mused aloud, bringing attention to the large round cage that Skull had just flown over.

Then the rings caught on fire, a fast electronic song playing to accompany the change.

“How dramatic,” a voice muttered behind them.

“Dang is this what’s been happening?”

“You all suck,” Lambo shouted, having heard the new comers, turning around sticking his tongue out at them, which earned him a smack to the head from Gokudera. “Stupidera!”

The lights turned off at that point, the glow sticks in people’s hands made for a sight and Skull’s bike, helmet and suit lighting up, made for a rather cool effect as she twisted around as she was up in the air again.

As she hit the ramp going down, the red fire changed color blinking in blues, greens and purples as they started moving around.

“What do we want!?”

**To ride the serpent!** The crowd yelled and as the rings moved sideways and up. Skull took the up ramp, watching as the ring lights flickered off, before flicking on in dark reds and yellows, moving up and down in a serpent like manner.

Lambo cheered, knowing his voice would be gone tomorrow, I-pin joining him as they watched Skull land. The woman gave a peace sign, once again standing on the foot holdings of her bike as she drove in front of the crowd.

Though no one could see it, beneath her helmet she was smiling and she couldn’t be any happier.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY HELL I'M SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE.  
> i've been trying to keep to an update a week, but things have gotten a bit hectic at home?
> 
> I've gotten another job so my free time has been drastically cut short, but I will try my best to stay on top of Skull and my other works. 
> 
> I'm also debating if I should get new laptop, or get mine checked seeing as I have to press down harder than usual to make some keys work. The one I have right now is almost five or so years old, that or getting a new battery for my old ass macbook.
> 
> Anyway! I'm rambling!
> 
> I hope you all have been well and I hope you enjoyed this update! :D
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> Sorugao


	15. Chapter 15

_2002_

Skull was outside in the garage, tinkering with her motorcycle.

Arthur Weasley had kept Sirius’ bike, having added a few magical modifications, ones that she had undone after her brother had given it to her a half year ago. She didn’t want to ask what Harry had put the bike through to have left it in the condition she had gotten it in, seeing the faraway look in his eye had stopped her from asking.

It was an old thing, a white 1959 Triumph 650, the style of it much more pleasant than the popular bulky models she had been seeing on the road lately.

“You’re going to be so sweet,” she murmured as she changed out the oil filter. Her gloves were black from the oil she had drained out and she hoped that no one had decided to drive it around like that. She hummed _hoggy warty Hogwarts_ as she finished up the oil change, not noticing that she was being watched.

Skull peeled off her gloves, turning the key in the ignition, making sure the switch by the engine was on ‘run on’, before turning it on.

It didn’t sputter like it did the first time, the engine coming to life with an audible purr. The laugh that left her had the person at the door questioning her sanity as she leaned forward and rested her cheek on the gas cap.

That’s when she noticed Lal standing at the door, “It’s impolite to stare.”

Lal continued to stare, a brow rising as if daring Skull to say something else, to which the purple haired woman did not.

Lal was the second nice one of the gathered seven and actually understood that she had limits, unlike some who insisted that _you don’t know what you’re capable of until you’re over the edge._

(Fong was apparently a risk taker and Skull held a minor grudge against the Storm after he had knocked her unconscious.

_He had killed her, but he hadn’t noticed that – a good thing that the curse that kept her alive worked fast in that moment._ )

“How about a ride Lal? Get some wind in your hair,” Skull waggled her brows, patting the space behind her. “Or,” she gestured to the sidecar she had detached a few days ago, “I can put that back on and we’ll coast the deserted road, enjoying the sun on our –“

“You’re poetic,” Lal cut her off, an amused smirk on her face. “I’ll take a rain check on that; meet me outside in fifteen minutes.”

The door closed behind her and Skull felt herself deflate, the gas cap pressing against her forehead.

Lal meant well.

Right?

+++

“When did you join the circus?” Lal asked Skull, circling around the stunt driver, who was holding her hands in front of her.

“I was sixteen,” Skull responded, ducking beneath the punch, stepping to the side at the second, and just barely jumping over the leg sweep Lal did. The military trained woman was fast, taking advantage of Skull being in the air as she grabbed one of her arms and brought her over her shoulder, smacking Skull’s back against the ground.

Skull gasped, the air knocked out of her lungs, but she had to move. Just because Lal was a better person than the others, didn’t mean she wasn’t a task master. She rolled onto her side, getting to her feet and just barely blocked the kick, feeling her bare arms get cut up by the metal hooks of Lal’s boot.

“Ah,” she yelled as she stepped forward, pushing Lal back, but not enough to throw her off. Skull could only defend, gritting her teeth at the pain when a hit slid through her defense.

By the time they ended, she was kneeling on the floor, wiping her nose to make sure she wasn’t bleeding from the palm strike Lal had gotten in.

“You’ve been at this for months,” Lal said, not even winded and Skull cursed the woman’s use of flame to keep her steady and calm. “Why aren’t you improving?”

That stung a little, her defense had definitely gotten better, she just wasn’t interested in attacking. In general she hadn’t been interested in fighting; life had taught her enough that defending and getting away was the better option.

No need to involve herself in physical problems like fighting.

Skull shrugged, “I’ve been doing what you all tell me to do, maybe I’m just not the type.” Lal narrowed her eyes, watching as Skull picked herself up off the ground, dusting her black overalls off, before untying the arms around her waist, slipping her bare arms through the sleeve as she did so. 

“Go wash off, we’ll do this again tomorrow.”

Skull pursed her lips as she patted the dirt off the sleeves, “I’m leaving tonight, I have a gig.”

“You know you’re going to have to let that go eventually,” there was something in her voice that made Skull want to ask what she had to give up, but Lal was heading inside leaving Skull by herself.

“I think I’ll continue doing what I want,” Skull murmured, a breeze drifting by ruffling the few strands of hair that had gotten out of her ponytail.

+++

_Present_

She was greeting people by a booth outside the stadium, face cleaned up of all the sweat and makeup that had smeared during the show. Pictures, autographs, a small exchange of words, if anyone had told Skull when she was young that she would be doing this for a living, she would have told them to sod off.

“Lambo! I-pin!” she greeted, kneeling down and giving the two a hug, “You like it?”

“You weren’t kidding! You flew so high and without you-know-what!”

Skull laughed, ruffling the kid’s curly hair, before turning to I-pin, who held out a poster of her and the other performers, “I want to put this up in my room.”

She uncapped her marker, her signature a fancy, loopy scrawl against the bottom of the poster, before doing the same for the sign Lambo had held up. She pulled the two closer to her, telling them to do devil horns with their hand as their picture was taken.

“I’ll visit soon, okay?”

“Skull has to sing for me!”

She smiled at the ten year old nodding along with his request, getting a hug from Tsuna, a nod from Gokudera and cheery wave from Yamamoto.

“See you!”

+++

“For fuck’s sake!” Skull hissed, bringing a hand to rest over her speeding heart. “I refuse to keep meeting like this, Reborn.”

The hitman ignored her, fedora covering his face as he reclined against the blankets and pillows she had piled up in the early morning so she could sit up.

“You!” Colonello jabbed a finger in her face, “I didn’t know you can do all that!?”

Skull tilted her head, looking around the blond to see Lal standing there looking annoyed, “Uh,” she squinted her eyes in thought. “What part of Best Stunstwoman did you not get?”

“And the singing! You screeched at me that time at your house, what the hell!”

Skull yawned, a hand covering her mouth as she did so, “You heard that?”

“Someone didn’t want to get close,” Lal answered, taking a seat at the edge of her bed.

_Oh, whoever could that be?_

“Look I’m tired as hell, can we talk tomorrow?” she yawned again, mumbling her words.

Colonello put his hands on her shoulders, lightly shaking her, “What the hell, Skull?”

“Lal,” she whined, trying to bat the blond’s hands off of her. “Help.”

There was silence from Lal’s end and Skull felt like she was about to burst, but at least Colonello stopped shaking her. “You should have said you were doing something like this when we last saw you,” the blond said, pulling his hands away and stuffing them into his pockets. “I had to find out from Reborn of all people, kora.”

There was a scoff, Reborn flicking up his fedora to give Colonello an unamused look, “Better to hear from Reborn no?” Skull asked, stepping back and moving towards the table by her bed. She began to take off her piercings, “Better to not hear at all.”

“Come on guys don’t be so tense,” she said, reaching for her makeup remover and the cloth beside it. “I’ve tried to invite you to my shows, but you didn’t care, so I just assumed you weren’t interested.” She held up the mirror to make sure she was getting everything off, before putting it down and looking at the three in her tent.

“What?”

The three shared a look, Colonello letting his head fall forward, a hand running through his hair, “I see what you mean Reborn.”

_What’s that supposed to mean?_

+++


	16. Chapter 16

_2002_

“There’s a show that I’ll be a special guest at in two weeks,” Skull brought up to Luce as she sat beside Aria at the kitchen table. “It’s in France, not too far away from here.”

The Sky offered her a kind smile and Skull kept up her pleasant smile, “I’m sorry Skull, I have things planned with my Famiglia that weekend.”

Understandable, Luce was the Donna of her family.

But that was the third time she had rejected coming to something she would be doing in the last year. Skull had even skulked around and made sure that Luce would be free, so that she could bring Aria, but it seemed the Sky had other plans.

Last minute as they would seem to be.

“Maybe you should invite Lal, or Fong.”

“I did, they said they're not interested,” Skull responded, forgoing her fork and using her fingers to eat the crepe she had made herself. She didn’t miss the way Luce wrinkled her nose and so Skull continued, enjoying the warm treat, even as the gooey chocolate spread she had used broke through the thin pancake and smothered her fingers. “Ah, heaven~”

“Next time, I will try,” Luce said as she raised her cup to her lips and took a sip. “Circus’ aren’t exactly our cup of tea.”

“I understand.”

An easy going silence fell upon them, only breaking when Skull told Luce that she would wash her dishes. That earned her a grateful look from Aria, the young teen skipping out the kitchen, Luce saying something about next time Aria would be cleaning up after herself.

Skull waited until they were out of the room before getting up from the table, setting her dishes in the sink. She turned on the faucet, letting warm water run over her sticky fingers before reaching for Luce’s cup and was glad the woman hadn’t rinsed it out.

She spread out her senses, making sure to know when someone was coming.

“Let’s see,” she sighed out, picking up the cup the same way Luce had been drinking it. “ _Oho_.”

Along the left side of the cup was a clump of coffee grounds that had formed the shape of a cross. And it was odd how from the right rim of the cup and going down there were wavy lines, connecting with an umbrella like shape at the bottom.

Those were the only things she could clearly make out and as she felt someone coming by, she began to rinse it out, humming a tune underneath her breath as she did so.

_A difficult journey that can result in trouble or death?_

Skull refrained from cursing aloud as Reborn stepped into the kitchen, though she only knew he was in there when he opened the cupboard by the sink that held the food he kept for himself.

“Can you not be sneaky hitman for five minutes?” she whined, letting herself slump over the sink. “Honestly, my heart can only take so much fright.”

She heard him snort, not bothering to respond to her as he went about his business. She racked up the dishes after rinsing them off, wiping her hands with the towel that was tucked into one of the front rings. Turning around, she crossed her arms against her chest as she watched Reborn sit down and eat.

“Hey you want to come –“

“Not interested.”

She pursed her lips, “You’re missing out.”

Dark eyes flicked over to her and she wondered if he could read her mind, “I highly doubt that.”

“Your loss~” she called over her shoulder as she quickly made her way out of the kitchen.

Her brow furrowed in thought, _A journey of death and trouble, or could it be a delay in journey and its annoying?_

When she got to her room she closed it, not bothering to lock it. If the others wanted so badly to get into her room they could do it easily, no lock would hold them back.

She let herself fall into her bed, bringing up her arms and crossing them behind her head, “Why is it always death with these stupid tea readings?”

+++

_She wasn’t going to cry, she wasn’t going to cry._

She was crying.

Skull had locked herself in the bathroom, curled up into a small ball in the bathtub. The cold ceramic felt nice against her hot, sweaty face. She had cast a spell so that nobody would be able to hear her, not wanting them to see her in such an emotional state.

_Charlotte dear, your parents would be proud of you._

The smooth voice of _that_ man filled her head and she wanted to scream, to let the part of her that was boiling and ready to _tear_ , to _destroy_ , and _rip_ anyone who stood in her way.

_To withstand my curse, not once, not twice, but three times, truly you are your father’s daughter._

Her body shivered, seizing in a way that had her breath cutting off as she clearly remembered how that had felt.

_Now you must stand, be a respectful, proper witch…..and we duel…._

He had made her stand against her will, but she had bowed, eyes not once leaving the scarlet ones that looked at her in amusement.

Wizards were idiots and they believed themselves all powerful

It was one of the first things she noticed when she had gotten to Hogwarts. It irked her how most of the students and even teachers saw things only one way, because it’s the easiest way, why do anything harder than that?

_Charlotte snarled as she flicked her wand, a bolt of red light leaving the tip and as the man before her laughed as it flew past him. She brought up her hand and without any words, a flash of white light left her finger tips before the sound of an explosion went off._

_The blast shook the ground, throwing those gathered off guard as she ran, voice cracking as she summoned the cup to her._

_Lights…so many bright lights._

Skull blinked, dazedly looking at the skylight in her bathroom ceiling, seeing the rays of morning light begin to make the room glow.

She breathed heavily, feeling as if she was about to choke.

Taking off her clothes, she threw them over the side of the tub, turning on the water and not at all flinching when the cold water hit her. She would take her time getting ready that morning, allowing her mind to clear and get far away from her nightmare.

“Never again.”

The dreams and memories would always be with her, but never would that happen to her again. She was in control now and whatever came her way because of her decisions, _that was okay._

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you asked the question about what Reborn meant and I'm sorry if that came off really vague. 
> 
> Skull doesn't tell the others about things in her life because as we see in this chapter, she's tried to be friendly and invite them and they've said no, or shown uninterest. Reborn in chapter 7 I think it was, he asked Skull why does she do something if she doesn't think its important. 
> 
> "I never said it wasn't important to me - it wasn't important for any of you to know"
> 
> I also think in a previous chapter Lal asks Skull when is she going to give it up. 
> 
> This whole Skull thinking/assuming the others won't find what she does is important will be a constant theme. 
> 
> Sorry for blathering on about that! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and again thank you for all your comments/kudos/bookmarks. It's a great motivation or just really nice to see after a rough day kind words about this writing thing I do. :)
> 
> Stay Safe~


	17. Chapter 17

_Present_

Skull sipped at the drink she pulled out of the cooler she kept in her room. She had long tuned out Colonello, and Lal could tell that the Cloud was unfocused which would lead to more fighting. Judging by the way Reborn narrowed his eyes at the purple haired woman it was about to happen pretty soon.

“Are you even paying attention?”

Skull’s eyes looked at Reborn, blinking slowly before shaking her head, “I’m tired.”

“Just answer this, why don’t you think we don’t care, kora?” Colonello asked.

“The question is why do you care now?” Skull asked, words slightly slurred as her half lidded gaze turned to Colonello. She swirled the bottle in her hand, before drinking the last bit. “I did my part in inviting you all to this before, but you never bothered.”

Maybe she should have held off on drinking her potion, she thought to herself as the world got more blurry. She was exhausted, there was a reason she took a day break – if she were anyone else, she’d have to take longer.

(Nobody would understand just how much her body had been through the years and how doing stunt work like this pushed her to her limits.

It wasn’t like before and Skull wanted to find Kawahira and curse him for ruining her body.)

“Honestly, you come in here asking me what’s _my_ problem,” she snorted, words slipping out as she started losing consciousness. “What’s _your_ problem?”

Lal caught Skull before she collapsed, giving the hitman on the Cloud’s bed a glare. The man moved, looking as if he didn’t care, instead snatching the bottle out of Skull’s hand and smelling it, a frown crossing his features, “It’s one of her weird herbal teas.”

She had a tendency of keeping those premade, though they had never seen her actually making them, even when they had been living in that house for two years together.

“I said this wasn’t going to go how you wanted it too,” Lal chastised Colonello who was glaring at the now snoozing Cloud.

“You don’t even know her that well, kora, how would you know how it was supposed to go?”

Skull had always been one that they had to find, she rarely, if ever came to them. Either an emergency that needed the attention of the arcobaleno or pure happenstance, even with their curse lifted, she came around even less, keeping in touch through text.

(Truly a Cloud who had been offended and didn’t bother with people who didn’t bother with her, how could they have doubted her nature?)

“The Lackey’s just being a brat,” Reborn spoke up, tossing the bottle to the side.

“A brat?” Colonello repeated, brow furrowing, eyes narrowing as he looked between Reborn and Skull. He gestured to the woman, who sniffed in her sleep, brow furrowing, before her face relaxed, mouth open slightly, a quiet snore leaving her. “Okay, I mean, we’ve known that, kora.”

Something didn’t feel right about this to Colonello, but he decided to drop it when Reborn started to head out. Lal gave him a knowing look. Skull had never really been placed under stressful situations, always playing the getaway driver part or the distraction while the others got down to the dirty work.

(If anything she had _enjoyed_ doing those parts and at one point they had to drag her away from further dazzling a group of Mafioso. How she had managed that, they didn’t know, but they had an idea now.)

“Running this place might be stressing her out more than she thinks she is,” Lal murmured, walking a few paces behind Reborn. “She’s in charge and she has others to look out for, we know Skull.”

Skull would sometimes say things to get people away from her when being her usual annoying self didn’t work. Even if that meant offending, hurting, or pissing off whoever it was (and in turn getting hurt, but as long as they eventually left, it was fine.)

+++

_2002_

Reborn held her face down into the ground and she could feel the grains of dirt digging into her skin, irritating the fresh cuts on her cheek.

“Let up, Reborn, come on it hurts,” she gasped out when he put more pressure down on her.

“You’re severely lacking in what is expected of a Cloud,” the hitman said, not even looking bothered that he was causing her great discomfort.

He eventually pulled away and Skull didn’t dare breathe a sigh of relief, “Are you even trying, Lackey?” Reborn watched as she picked herself up, favoring her right leg as she winced when she put a bit of weight on her left.

He hid the frown that wanted to show, instead turning around and heading back in, “Why do you even bother sticking around if you can’t hold up against anyone of us?”

“We’re supposed to be the best and you’re barely even cutting it.”

Skull stared at the man’s back, watching as he went inside before she spit out a glob of blood and saliva. She ran her tongue over the area where Reborn had knocked a tooth loose and could feel a new one coming in slowly.

“Why don’t they question Checker Face,” she muttered as she began to make her way inside slowly, limping as she did so. “He’s the one who made the choice.”

_But also my stupid curiosity._

Skull eyed the stair case, not at all wanting to deal with that, but not having a choice.

_Not even Harry got himself in these situations._

And that was saying something, because Harry was a nosy little snit when he wanted to be and got himself in all types of situations.

**Godric’s Hollow, Potter Cottage:**

Harry was glad no one had been in the room with him.

Though judging by the snorting of one of the portraits they had heard him.

Who knew he would sneeze violently enough to spew pumpkin juice everywhere?

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be honest. 
> 
> I'm winging this fic, like I do all my other fics and just trying (and hoping and praying) that its all at least making sense and keeping together. :-)


	18. Chapter 18

_Present_

Skull was making her morning rounds, making sure that everything was set up. She wore her usual biker suit, though her hair instead of being pulled back in a bun was pulled up into two space buns. Her white and purple makeup was not brazenly painted on her face, instead she had done a winged eyeliner with a little heart drawn underneath her right eye.

There was glitter in her hair (and everywhere else on her person) and she seemed to sparkle beneath the sun.

“Dominique,” she called out, waving at the woman, who looked over her shoulder to wave back.

“I’m going to have to ask how you’re so spirited after last night’s show,” Dominique asked, her voice sounding tired, cracking a little at the end of her words. She cleared her throat, shaking herself slightly as she took a sip of her drink. “Honestly, I could use some of that.”

“That’s a good question,” Skull said, having walked over towards her and took a seat beside her. “I’m just used to being up early and having the energy for anything everything.”

(Did Aunt Petunia instill in her a good work ethic? Waking up early every day to do those boring ass chores had translated over in her being an early bird at school.)

Dominique shook her head, one of the corners of her mouth quirking up in a half smile, “Tch, I think you’re insane and your body has followed your mind.”

Skull laughed, shaking her head, “Now that’s a theory.”

The pair fell in silence, Skull watching the people passing by while Dominique merely finished up her meal, “You know I never thought this day would come.”

“Oh?”

Dominique shrugged, her braids moving over shoulder, making the woman reach up and push them back so that they were down her back, “I’m glad Martha called Skull, this…it’s exhausting…but it’s always worth it.”

“… _oh?”_ Skull intoned, leaning resting her arms against the table and now looking at Dominique. The Black woman nodded, brown eyes soft as she gazed down into her cup. Dominique didn’t say anything else; she just started drinking from her cup, finishing off her drink before setting it down on her empty plate.

“Yeah…I feel alive again.”

The way Skull went from understanding to sudden worry made Dominique laugh, because that was _not_ what she was referring too, but Skull always had to jump to the wrong conclusions, “I’ll catch you singing later, alright? I got to call the wifey.”

Skull sputtered, the woman easily leaving her in her seat, hands held out as Dominique all but slipped away from the situation, “What the fuck?”

“Don’t take her words too seriously,” Marcella spoke up, having taken the seat opposite of where Dominique had been.

“Did you hear what she said?”

Marcella nodded, the curlers in her head not at all budging with the movement, “You’ve brought back excitement to us, Skull. Things were getting pretty bland the last few years.”

“Okay, but you guys can always spice it up.”

The blond woman hummed in agreement, “Nothing spices life up like old friends touring together and bringing in talent from the area.”

“You could _totally_ do that wherever you are.”

Marcella gave the back of Skull’s head a sad smile, when the woman turned around to see who had called out her name, the purple haired woman making a choking sound as a blond man approached them, “There will be a raincheck on this conversation with you and _everyone else.”_

Marcella hummed, amusement playing through her smile as Skull all but booked it away from the man, who let out a loud, “ _Kora!_ Skull get back here!”

Really Skull could be so good sometimes, but she really did miss things.

(The others hadn’t mentioned it much to Skull, knowing that something had cropped up in the woman’s life to make her step back from what she loved doing. Things hadn’t been going well for everyone and there had been some pretty rocky moments where one of them almost gave up their chosen career.

This tour, if anything else, was not just one big hurrah for Skull, but for everyone involved.)

+++

“Oh, you got me,” Skull wheezed, having been tripped and landing face first into the ground. She felt herself hauled up, “Reborn how strong _are_ you?”

The Hitman didn’t answer; deciding to drag her by what she felt was the scruff of her neck. Skull instead of fighting against it, tried to make herself as heavy as possible, allowing the toe of her boots to dig into the dirt and create little grooves as she was dragged.

Reborn easily ignored Skull’s attempts to make it harder to drag her, not at all unused to the woman’s antics, annoying as they were.

“Oof, hey, be gentle,” she whined when he finally dropped her, the man scoffing before walking over to stand beside Lal, who was shaking her head.

“Skull we need to talk.”

“Can we first acknowledge how sparkly Reborn’s hand is,” Skull said, rolling over onto her back and giving the hitman’s hand an amused stare. “You’re going to shine forever Reborn~”

Lal breathed out a steady stream of air, praying that Reborn’s patience didn’t run out. Then Colonello showed up, his bandana around his neck, a pink and blue star painted on his cheek, while his hair was twisted into two little stunted pigtails.

“Oh my God, they did an amazing job on you,” Skull managed between her snickering, biting down on her lip to keep her laughter from leaving her when the blond glared down at her.

Lal could see a tick begin to form on Colonello’s brow, the man’s eye beginning to twitch and already at his fill of having to deal with Skull.

“Skull, they just want to know why you don’t think we’d care about what you do or what you’ve done,” Lal decided to be out and open with it, having already grown tired of Skull putting off what needed to be answered.

Skull’s pulled a face, mouth twisting down, eyes squinting as if she was bothering to think of an answer, “Now I know there’s no such thing as stupid questions, but _that_ ,” Skull stressed out as she picked herself up and started dusting herself off. “Is the dumbest thing I’ve ever been asked.”

All traces of humor were wiped away from Skull’s face as she patted herself down, “I’ve already explained myself, I’ve tried inviting you all to what I care about and you all brushed it off.”

“If anything you all told me to give it up, it’s like none of you bothered to understand what any of this meant to me.”

Skull’s face was blank as she turned to look at Reborn, before it was filled with life, her tone not at all matching the manic smile she gave them. Her hands came up to cup her cheeks, head tilting to the side as she began to speak, “Why didn’t you tell us this? Why didn’t you tell us that? Why do you think we don’t care?”

Her mocking tone grated on their nerves, but they didn’t say anything, not when her eyes were glowing entirely purple, her grin becoming more strained by the second, “You still don’t care, you only want to know because you’re curious now and you have nothing better to do.”

“I’m not a fucking curiosity.”

“I’m a person.”

“But I doubt any of you ever saw me like that.”

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I don't know what's happening anymore :-)
> 
> I thought I updated, but I realized I hadn't. So here we go!


	19. Chapter 19

_2002_

She should have trusted her gut feeling when it came to accompanying the others on this job. Meaning she shouldn’t have come and should have just stayed back at the mansion babysitting Arya.

Now here she was, completely lost in enemy territory and not knowing which way was up.

(That could be attributed to the bullet that was lodged in her skull, but the more time went by the clearer her thinking was getting, so at least that was going away.)

Still her thinking wasn’t clear enough and she had sent out a brief wave of magic to feel for the others.

“ _Bloody –_ “ they were all far away and if she tried to catch up with them, she would have to go through people she currently didn’t want to deal with. She’d have to deal with them anyway, so she began to head in the direction where she could sense Fong.

She debated if she should take out the pistol they had given her, though perhaps she may have thought over on doing so for too long.

A grunt was tossed into the air, heading in her direction and she just barely managed to duck beneath the body.

“Hey Fong!” she cheerily called, getting the attention of the other grunts, giving the Storm enough time to take them down. “Oh, awesome, I’m a great distraction.”

Fong merely brought his arms down to his sides when the last body hit the floor, “You’re supposed to be with Lal, Skull.”

“Yeah, well, life happened I guess,” Skull shrugged, stopping just a few inches away from the man. The man’s brows pulled together for a second, before smoothing out, his usual calm smile being directed at her.

Without saying much, he began to head in the direction where she knew the others were and she trailed behind him. They eventually caught up to the others, who were checking the bodies on the ground.

“Found it,” Lal called, pulling out a small vial from the inner pockets of the dead man’s suit. “All this trouble for this crap?”

Skull felt her heart leap into her throat and instead of staying quiet she strode over to Lal’s side, “That is the prettiest gold color ever.”

“Where the hell did you go?!” Lal whirled on her and Skull was reminded how quick Lal could change moods. “One minute you’re by my side, the next you’ve disappeared!”

“I told you to leave me waiting in the car,” Skull said, bringing her arms behind her back, linking her hands together. “Also I disappeared because there was an explosion and I’m sure I hit my head and started wondering around.”

(If anyone decided to check, the bullet should be dissolved by now.

Not that they would and no way was she letting Verde check on her.)

“This isn’t the first time this happens,” Lal continued, tossing the vial over to Fong who pocketed it in the pouch around his waist. Skull could feel her stomach churn at how casual they were treating the vial, did they have no clue what was stored in it?

(Felix Felicis one of the most mind numbing potions to brew if only because it took so damn long. They were literally treating liquid luck like it was some random bit of water.

Also why the hell had Checkered Face sent them here for this?

Was he trying to hint at something?)

“Are you even listening?”

“Not really,” she yawned, head tilting forward, bringing one of her hands to rub at the center of her forehead. “Mission accomplished, yes? Can we go now?”

“This isn’t the end of this Skull.”

+++

It really hadn’t been the end of it.

What followed after was training simulations where Lal brought her weird lover-friend-student and put Skull through the ringer on how to deal with being thrown off in the middle of an operation.

Skull didn’t know what was worse, running and ducking beneath the blond’s shots or Lal being a little too curious over how durable she was.

Thankfully Lal never questioned it, thinking it was more of Skull building up a tolerance to being roughed up due to her choice of career. Which, fair point, she had taken a lot more awful crashes than the nicks of bullets and being thrown around by explosions.

Skull sighed deeply, staring at the starry night sky, feeling every ache and bruise on her body after that day’s training. Colonello had actually yelled at her that day, for not fighting back when she had the opportunity.

Instead she had kept defending and dodging around, trying to get away rather than end the problem.

“You’re deep in thought.”

“Hi Fong,” she greeted, feeling more than seeing the man sit beside her. “Please tell me you’re not going to hurt me some more.”

The man chuckled and if she bothered to look in his direction she would see him bring up his sleeve to hide his amused smile, “I believe Lal has done enough of that.”

“Finally someone agrees with me.”

Luce probably would have pulled back the Rain, but Luce wasn’t there at the mansion and wouldn’t be back for another two weeks. Reborn had left with her, something to do with Vongola though as he had put it, its not something that should concern her.

“You are much more thoughtful than usual.”

“Yeah, well I do think sometimes.”

She knew some people that would appreciate her actually thinking things through instead of just thinking and suddenly doing.

“What stands out in your mind, Skull?”

What was the most outstanding thing in her mind?

“Huh, I don’t know.”

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> So, I know this started off as a fun little thing to do and just explore this version of Skull I have thought of.
> 
> But I've somewhat become deeply invested and started actually plotting better points and interactions. There is a high chance I will end up deleting this and rewriting it as there are things that I would like to do different and just have better interactions. 
> 
> That or I may end up leaving this off and starting another story. 
> 
> I will see. 
> 
> I probably won't update after this one, or maybe I'll post the other chapters I have written for this up and leave it there. It's just getting harder to write for this as it seems I drove myself in a direction where I won't be able to pull out of nicely. 
> 
> Thank you to all of you who liked, enjoyed, commented and followed this story. I am honestly surprised this got as much attention as it did. 
> 
> If any of you have any questions, I have a tumblr, sorugao-bandgeek.tumblr.com, probably best way to contact me. 
> 
> So sorry about this guys :(


	20. Chapter 20

_2002_

“You will come to me in times of trouble,” the words came out of Skull’s mouth before she could even process them. They rang loudly in the silence of the room and Skull refused to breathe or move, or show that she was even at all affected by what she had just said.

(There were chills going up and down her body, her ears felt like they were ringing.)

“I highly doubt that,” Viper answered. The Esper turned to look at Luce and it felt as if they were raising their brow, “Is this meeting over?”

“Of course, we’ve gone over what we needed too,” the Sky answered, hands tight in her lap, but not allowing the others to know that she had been bothered by Skull’s sudden words.

The others began to leave, Skull being the only one to stay behind, her head coming down to rest on the on top of the table.

Should she?

Luce had always been curious about Skull.

The others she could see glimpses into their futures and the rare few times into their past, but Skull she had never been able to see anything. Luce had just accepted it as it being Skull not connecting with her as a Sky, the Cloud having rebuffed every one of her advances.

“Skull are you okay?”

The woman gave a pitched whine, before she lifted her head and gave her an exaggerated teary eyed smile,”Y-yeah.”

“Did you mean what you said?” Luce decided to ask as she stood up and went to Skull’s side, putting a hand on the young woman’s shoulder.

Skull sniffed, standing up not at all bothered by Luce’s touch, “I always mean what I say.”

Luce’s hand slid off her shoulder, the older woman watching the Cloud walk out of the room, her shoulder’s hunched as she was expecting the teasing and berating from the others for saying something so stupid.

For a second Luce could feel more than see and she felt her heart sink as she understood perhaps too late what Skull felt.

(She cared for them, but she felt uncared for.

She would help them, but would they help her?)

+++

_Present_

Lambo let out a cry his hands going to the back of his head to soothe the ache that Reborn had caused by digging his knuckle into the area, “Meanie!”

“My feelings are hurt,” the hitman deadpanned, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“You are being mean, Reborn,” Tsuna commented, meeting Reborn’s glare head on with a carefree smile. “You’ve been off since before going to Skull’s show.”

There was a second of silence, before Lambo opened his mouth and yelled, “Reborn’s jealous because he’s not as cool as Skull-nee!”

“Oh the tea’s here,” Tsuna said loudly as he gestured to the maid who had walked into the room. “It’s okay, Daphne, I can do this myself.”

The dark haired woman nodded, leaving the room at a brisk pace not wanting to be in there any longer. Tsuna began to pour himself a cup, before he poured another for Reborn, “Lambo your piano lesson is about to begin.”

For once he didn’t have to force Lambo to go to his lesson with Gokudera, the boy zooming out of the room leaving behind an irritated hitman and a bemused Don.

“Take a seat Reborn, have some tea.”

The glare Reborn gave him didn’t faze him, Tsuna just smiled. Honestly, whatever had the hitman in a mood would eventually be solved or dealt with, it was just odd to see something actually bother the man.

“You asked me to go see Skull’s performance again before they left to France,” Tsuna started after finishing his first cup of tea, pouring himself a second. He noted that Reborn still hadn’t touched the one he had served him and how sad that a nice cup of Sencha tea was being wasted. “She seemed her usual self, high in energy, very dynamic, though not as steady as her first show that I watched.”

Reborn took a seat, taking off his fedora and twirling it in his hand, “She believes we don’t care.”

Tsuna blinked, bringing down his cup, “I would also find that hard to believe that any of you do.”

Reborn looked at Tsuna, brow slightly furrowed, “She makes it hard to show we care.”

“I think that’s a terrible excuse,” Tsuna frowned, setting his cup down on the small table between them. “If Skull made it hard to care for her, we wouldn’t welcome her here with open arms –“

Reborn stared at Tsuna, the young Don smiling calmly back as he reached back for his cup, “You know something.”

“No, I don’t, I just know how to talk to people.”

“…are you berating me Dame-Tsuna?”

The closed eye smile the brunet gave him made Reborn want to shoot him, “I would never dream of doing that.”

_2016_

The first time Tsuna met Skull he was fourteen.

He had thought Reborn was a weird baby, but Skull just looked weird with her white face makeup, purple eyeshadow and the little heart drawn on her cheek. Piercings that shouldn’t ever be on a child were on her face and he had caught her twiddling with the one in her septum.

“Hi, I’m Skull,” she had smiled brightly at him and he felt that for once he wasn’t meeting a weird baby like Colonello and Reborn. “I’m the World’s Best Stuntwoman!”

That’s when he noticed the miniature motorcycle, covered in stickers - some funny, some stating what country had been visited, and some just cartoon characters.

“Reborn’s not here,” Tsuna had said, knowing that these odd characters always showed up for Reborn. It was the little giggle she let out and a soft look in her eye that made him reconsider why she was here.

“Good, he’s an asshole,” she said, setting her helmet down on the seat of her motorcycle. She put one of her hands on her hip, the other pointing at him, “I’m going to kidnap you Vongola Decimo!”

Tsuna gaped, taking back the thought of her probably not being as weird as Colonello and Reborn. He shook his head, “No thanks, I’m not the Decimo.”

There was a sudden weight on his shoulder, someone grabbing his face and turning it to the side. Her face was in front of his, noses nearly brushing, “Alright not the Decimo, I’m kidnapping you Tsuna!”

Tsuna didn’t know how she did it, but she knocked him out and by the time he came too it was to the sound of the ocean. He slowly blinked his eyes open, noting that the sky wasn’t the bright blue it was earlier, but darkening with purples, orange and red.

That’s when Tsuna freaked, a screech leaving him as he realized he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

“Relax,” came the voice and he turned to give the purple haired toddler a panicked look. She gestured to a cup, reaching for the teapot and pouring him some tea. “I won’t hurt you.”

“T-then why?”

She sipped at her cup, gesturing for him to pick the one she served him, “Sometimes you need to run away from the crazy.” Skull tilted her head to the side; mouth pursed slightly, “Okay, maybe not run away, but a nice break.”

Tsuna stared at her, but he gave in and reached for the cup of tea. He took a sip and was surprised to find it still hot. He took another and liked the flavor, “This is good.”

“Thank you,” Skull said, pouring herself some more in her cup. “So you’re the hot topic in the underworld, Tsuna.”

“…I wish I wasn’t.”

“You want to talk about it?” Skull asked and Tsuna knew that she was being genuine and he felt touched that this total stranger would even care just a little bit. “I know what it’s like to be dropped into this life, I was a civilian before all this.”

(Tsuna wouldn’t know that Skull had seen a little of herself in him, both when she was his age and when she was first introduced to the Mafia. If it was one thing she could do, it would be to at least be helpful to someone who didn’t understand or was still trying to figure out this new way of life.)

“Here,” she held out a card and Tsuna took it, thinking that the way the name and numbers on the matte black card shined was pretty. “My number if you ever want to call or text, just don’t tell Reborn about that one.”

“You two don’t get along?” Tsuna asked, turning the card to one side and then to another, entertained by the way it would shine in rainbow colors. Tsuna would miss the frown on her face, looking up only to see her rubbing her head sheepishly.

“Something like that…”

Tsuna let the hand holding the card come to rest in his lap as he continued looking at Skull, deciding that he wouldn’t ask her any personal questions other than, “What are you going to do when you take me back?”

“Uh, drive….drive really fast.”

Should Tsuna mention that the others would probably hound after her for ‘kidnapping’ him? He decided not to, instead raising is cup of tea back to his lips and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> I am....somewhat back?
> 
> I'm going to continue this series, which will be over in uh....few chapters. (That could range from another 5 or 15 chapters. WHO knows.)
> 
> I checked back on this and then went to read the chapters I already had done and, you know, i could NOT just let them sit there. So .... I'll finish this. But there will be a spin off....eventually..


	21. Chapter 21

_Present_

_May 15, 2022_

_H: Hey Charlie, sorry it took so long to get back to you about the tickets for your show. We were all trying to find a way to make sure we would all be able to go as one. We’re all thinking June 17?_

_H: Luckily the school year ends earlier now, so we woudn’t be missing it for the world, even if they weren’t out, I’m sure the kids would figure something out._

_H: Hope you’re doing well, don’t be a stranger alright?_

Skull stared at the writing, pointer finger carefully tracing over the chicken scratch that was her brother’s writing. She hadn’t been feeling quite herself for a few weeks, the others in the trope noticing her mood being less joyful and her becoming distant.

She had brushed them off, instead turning the situation on them and what they had been feeling on their off time before the tour had started. Getting the story out from Dominique and what exactly she had meant about _feeling alive again_ had at least soothed away some of the thoughts Skull had instantly assumed.

But she supposed she could understand where they were all coming from.

While they did have some form of work, it wasn’t as consistent as it could be. Over time even something that someone could love and enjoy doing, could feel as if it was a task to accomplish.

Even though they had kept in touch, throughout the last nineteen years, they had never really brought up those thoughts or feelings they had.

Skull couldn’t exactly relate, but then again she hadn’t kept doing her stuntwork consistently throughout the last decade and they had.

(What was it like to not want to do what once filled you with fire?)

She could definitely understand them not wanting to talk about it over the letters or phone calls that they shared, Skull had only visited them rarely and that was because keeping up the appearance of her normal self left her nearly fried.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t –“

“No, no apologizing,” Masias had shushed her right away, going up to hug her, Martha following suit. “That’s just life and it happens and we’re all happy we’re still here.”

“But if I had been a better – “

“You had your own troubles Skull,” Elena spoke up, Rodrigo leaning against her holding her hand. “You can’t expect to be there for everyone, we’ve all found ways to get through.”

“Still,” Skull sniffled, rubbing at her eyes, pouting when Masias ruffled her hair, making the wild mane even more of a mess.

Still.

_C: Hey Harrikins, all is well, I’ll be sending over some tickets once I’m able too. Maybe sometime next week, we’ll be in Spain and I can slip into the Wizarding Community there to send an owl._

_C: Everything’s alright on my end. Hope the kids and Ginny are doing alright._

_C: Hope you’re well and didn’t go overboard with the amount of essays that have to be written, I can still feel my wrist ache from all that writing we would do._

_C: Love you lots, Charlotte_

She waited for the ink to dry before running her fingers over her loopy writing.

“Is this what happens when you keep so many secrets?” she quietly asked herself, closing the book, leaving her pen inside it to mark the page.

Her family didn’t know about Skull.

The arcobaleno and the others didn’t know about Charlotte.

“What mess have I dragged myself into?”

+++

_2002_

She messed with her wig, batting her brown eyes at her reflection and wondering what the others would think if they saw her like this.

“Miss, are you ready?”

Amelee smiled kindly at the assistant, nodding as she stood up and followed them. She had just gotten her hair and makeup done and now she would be wearing whatever outfits they had planned out for this shoot.

Hopefully nothing too weird happened like in the last shoot she had been called for, she would hate for things to go south.

(Nothing ever ended cleanly when things went to shit.)

Thank goodness the person she had been then could be easily replaced, Anaya having been her previous cover.

“These are the outfits we’ll be working with today,” the assistant pulled up a rack, a few pieces of clothes and lingerie swinging lightly at the movement. “We’ll be starting with this one, will you need any help putting anything on?”

Amalee shook her head, “This is all very 80s,” she said instead.

“Ryan thought that suited you best,” they said, crossing their arms and briefly looking her over before going back to the outfits. “I think you’ll bring out the best of them.”

They left with that and Amalee didn’t think too much of what they said, her hands instead smoothing over the striped suit.

“I wonder if….” Would her mother have worn anything like this? There were some pretty dresses, an outfit with a colorful top and what seemed to be high-waist jeans. Or would she have stuck to dressing like the witches in the wizarding world?

She slipped off her robe, beginning to put on what she realized was a jumpsuit, “Oh, man, I should have stolen Reborn’s hat,” she muttered as she buttoned it up and tied it off around her waist. She put her hands in her pockets, leaning back and nodding at her reflection. “Looking like a real Mafiosa now, eh.”

She laughed to herself, pulling the matching jacket off the hanger, “Man, the others would die if I acted anything like a real Mafiosa, let alone look like one.”

Amalee strutted out of the room, feeling confident and bright, greeting the photographer with a wink and a sly smirk, “Well shall we get to work?”

+++

“Arya?”

“Oh, hey Skull.”

The purple haired woman blinked, giving the stairway a longing look before deciding that it would be best for her to figure out why the teen was draped over the back of the couch.

“Everything alright?”

The girl didn’t raise her head or get up, but Skull could see her breath deeply, a long exhale leaving her before her head moved slightly, “Yeah.”

“If you’re going to lie,” Skull started, stopping beside her and tapping the back of head. “Don’t just half-ass it.”

This time Arya lifted her head, squinting at Skull as if trying to see if the Cloud was being serious, “You can’t lie.”

(Arya would never admit that the way Skull smiled in that moment gave her _chills_.)

“I,” Skull gestured to herself with one hand, the other going to her hip, “dear child, I _am_ an actor _._ I know how to wow my crowd, how to act to get the right reaction, and how to make them all hang on edge.”

Skull cocked her head to the side, peering down at her, one brow raised and mouth quirked down in distaste, “Of course I wouldn’t doubt that a child like you would follow the thoughts of everyone around here and just believe what they do.”

Arya puffed up at that, “I am _not_ a child.”

“Oh, then what are you?”

The girl opened her mouth, but soon closed it shut realizing that she didn’t have an answer for that. Or maybe she did, but she knew better than to say about the things she had seen.

“I’m _fine_ , stop messing with me Skull.”

Arya turned away, only looking back when the woman called to her a weird shine in her eyes as she lifted her hand up and pointed her middle and pointer finger at her, “Then forget it Arya.”

Skull rubbed her fingers together as Arya stiffly walked away, “Really can’t help people these days.”

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh! I was surprised to still see readers for this! Thanks for sticking around :)
> 
> I'll try and be better.


	22. Chapter 22

_2002_

“Do you ever get a bad feeling?”

“Don’t say that when you’re carrying a tray of hot tea,” Viper snapped, standing back from whatever splash zone Skull created.

“Do you believe _me_ capable of dropping tea?” Skull snapped back in annoyance, placing the tray down on the coffee table. “I don’t drop stuff I like.”

“You dropped me last week,” Aria pouted, earning a nervous giggle from Skull.

“Well…I would have caught you…but you know,” Skull trailed off, staring down at the teapot. “You literally fell on top of me Aria, my body broke your fall.”

“It was your job to catch me.”

Skull shrugged, taking a seat and pouring herself a cup of tea, “I didn’t get a heads up, so maybe it’s your fault.”

Aria narrowed her eyes, idly rubbing her left upper arm where a bruise was finally fading away, “You could have done better.”

“You could have _not_ tripped down the stairs,” Skull gestured at her with her cup, “So really who could have done better here?”

“You’re going to argue with a child,” Viper deadpanned, coming up beside them and sitting in the loveseat, pouring themselves a cup.

“It’s funny watching her get mad.”

“Hey!”

“I’m just acting like your typical big sister,” Skull appeased, patting the top of Aria’s head with her free hand. “You should know better by now.”

“Don’t trust Skull, Aria.”

“Hey you can trust me –“

“I’ve figured that out Viper.”

“I’m glad, I’d hate to have to bail you out of a problem she causes.”

“I’m _right_ here.”

+++

Skull was in the garage, wiping her hands when she heard the snap.

She turned to look around at the mirror she had hung up, stepping closer to inspect the crack and then screaming in pain when something whizzed past her head and struck the glass. It shattered, the glass getting in her face, specifically her eyes.

“Oh we caught one of them,” an unfamiliar voice spoke and Skull felt something twist in her stomach.

(She was home alone, everyone had gone out to do their own things and wouldn’t be coming back until the weekend.

Hadn’t she been excited that she would get the huge place to herself?)

Someone grabbed her by the shoulder and she moved instinctively, not caring that she felt a sharp pain in her side as she turned towards them, slammeing her palm into their nose.

“Shit,” another person cursed from behind and Skull readily used the person in her hands as a shield, the bullets piercing their back. She easily flung the body at the person, hearing it hit the ground. She flared her magic, a nonverbal _Homenum Revelio,_ and felt at least two other people hiding out in the trees.

“I don’t know what you’re doing here,” Skull said, running at the second person, holding up her hand to blast a wall of Cloud flames to take the incoming bullets. “But I’m going to make you regret it and no one will know any better.”

Dealing with the second one, by letting the wall of Cloud flames solidify and slam into them, Skull headed to the other two.

“And you two, well, here’s how I _popped_ as a Cloud,” she inhaled and proceeded to shriek.

To the people who it wasn’t affecting, it sounded like regular screaming. To those who were experiencing it, it felt as if something sharp was grating and grinding against their ears and body. The sound continued and didn’t stop until Skull saw the pair sink to their knees, clasping their bloodied ears and coughing up blood.

“I’m not exactly a fan of doing any of this,” she walked up to them, crouching down and turning one over who was twitching, still feeling the sensation of what her attack did. “And I absolutely _hate_ it when I’m forced to act like this.”

“So!” her cheery tone didn’t match the distasteful look on her face, not even as she wiped away the blood coming down her nose, rubbing the liquid between her fingers. “I’m going to find out a few things and I’ll make sure no one was the wiser that this all happened.”

When everyone came back a few days later, they didn’t find anything odd when Skull chirped a goodbye and hopped onto her motorcycle and took off.

“I was hoping we could all have dinner, since all of us are here,” Luce sighed. “Well I suppose next time.”

+++

“You’ve ignored the Sky’s summons,” Checkered Face portaled in front of Skull, the young woman not flinching at his sudden presence. “Is this your way of breaking your contract?”

Skull sniffed, continuing to lift herself up onto the bar and holding herself up and over it, “I don’t answer to any Sky and I am not breaking the contract.” She raised her lower half, until they were pointing up towards the roof and then slowly moved her legs, bringing them down so that she was doing an upside down splits.

“You and I both know that’s not possible, Checkered Face.”

The being hummed, lightly tapping his staff against the ground, “You will return soon?”

Skull brought her legs up against, breathing in before she let her body fall forward. She did two, three spins and she let go, tucking in and landing in front of Checkered Face, “When I feel like it.”

The being chuckled, “Of course, little Cloud, don’t dither too long.”

He went away the same way he appeared and Skull could feel her eye twitch.

She managed to deal with the assassins that had been sent to the mansion, but hadn’t been able to trace them back to a specific family.

“Is this your way of testing me, Checkered Face?” She knew she hadn’t been pulling her weight in the missions he had handed off to them. “Bastard, I hope you stub your toe on every table leg for the rest of your life.”

+++

_Elsewhere_

Kawahira sucked in a deep breath, deciding to take a seat on his couch and hold his foot.

Lately he’d been having one too many accidents with the tables of his home and his poor toe was suffering for it.

He wondered if Wonomichi was playing a prank on him again.

The young teen was a sea of energy that even he had trouble reeling in at times.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't remember writing this, but I guess its a thing that happened. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy~
> 
> Also Skulls screaming attack is similar to Ciri's from the Witcher. I am not original when it comes to coming up with attacks/techniques for characters, but I thought it fit Skull's character to do.


	23. Chapter 23

_Present_

_England, June 15, 2022_

“So why are we paying for more tickets, when Dearest Charlie already sent us free ones?” Fred asked as they waited in line to pay for their tickets for that night.

“Charlie sent us tickets to see _her_ , I want to see Skull,” Harry pointed at the pamphlet. “I’ve been hearing a lot about her lately and Hermione’s found some wicked footage of her, I’m surprised Charlie’s never mentioned her.”

“You want to see someone fly through the air?” George asked, while Ron covered his face to hide laughter as he had asked the same question. “Mate, you can easily do that yourself.”

“But on a motorcycle?”

The three brother’s shared a look, Ron shrugging, “It’s not like _you_ haven’t been on a flying motorcycle Harry.”

Harry once again pointed at the pamphlet, over the woman on the motorcycle doing a handstand on the bars, “There is a difference,” he mouthed the word magic, and then again tapped at the pamphlet. “Not magic.

“Relax there Potter –“

“Oh, you three came to see her.”

“Luna?”

Luna didn’t bother questioning why Teddy had ducked out before his Godfather could see him, instead heading over to Harry and the others, “What are you all here for?”

Harry held up the pamphlet of the purple haired woman striking a pose midair (sitting on the frigging handle bars mid flip, while waving her fingers at the camera, a _bsolutely ridiculous.)_

“She’s amazing,” Luna said, nodding as she looked at the line behind them. “Let’s sit together.”

“Sure, but why are you here?”

She hummed, shrugging her shoulders, “There’s a lot of buzz, nargles maybe, I thought I might come see for myself.”

“Right,” Ron nodded, taking out his wallet as they were two people away from being able to buy their tickets. “That’s a lot of buzz being made about all this then.”

“Tch, it’s _The_ Skull,” someone from behind them said. They all turned to look at the older man, whose hair was dyed a dark purple, though his nearly white goatee gave away his age. “When she makes noise, she makes noise,” the man sported a wide grin, “and trust me….it’s going to be loud.”

“Four tickets please,” George ordered as Ron had been distracted listening to the man to see that they were up front. “Ronnikins, please pay the nice lady.”

Ron only rolled his eyes and paid what was owed, letting George take the tickets, “We’ll have to see it to believe it then.”

+++

Teddy was out of breath when he got to where Skull was, the woman giving him an amused look though that was wiped away when he spilled what made him run.

“Oh…” there was a pause as Skull took in the information, before blowing up her cheeks and shrugging. “They’re not going to figure it out.”

Teddy sputtered, his dark brown hair turning bright blue, before fading into pink and back to brown, “You don’t think….they’re not idiots.”

“Well, no, yeah they’re not idiots,” she agreed, reaching over to ruffle his hair and giving it a slight tug before pulling her hand back. “But I know them….they won’t figure it out until they come to see me on Friday.”

“Wait! So you expect them to –“

“Yeah, they’re not dumb, well….completely dumb,” she muttered at the end, making an odd squelching sound with her mouth. “….it’s time to come clean Teds.”

“Don’t call me that,” he narrowed his eyes at her, which just made her snort.

“Oh, wee lil Tedbear, whats 'e goin’ ta do?” she pinched his cheek before he pulled away from her, this time outright glaring at her for only a second before he deflated, pouting at her.

“Aren’t you scared of how they’ll react?”

Skull rolled one shoulder back, appreciating the way it cracked, “Scared…no. Nervous, maybe a little.” She ran a hand through her hair, forgetting she had it braided and cursed when she messed up one of them, “Dammit…anyways…I put myself in this situation, I just got to walk through this shit and hope everything is salvageable.”

Teddy sighed, holding out his arms and appreciating that she opened hers up and picked her up in a tight hug, “I’m going to get scolded because of you.”

“Ah, scolding, such a terrible, terrible thing.”

“Shut up.”

+++

“ _How?”_ Ron gapped as the Stunts woman flew through large hoops that were not only on fire, but moving. “That’s….how do you even practice that?!”

His voice was nearly drowned out by the crowd yelling _Ride the Serpent!_ And it didn’t help that whatever screeching music was playing was playing loud enough to make it feel as if his body was vibrating.

“How are we doing Manchester!?” the cameras panned back to the woman who was now balancing her rear tire on the edge of a ramp. She hopped it along the edge a few times, before dropping down, speeding under the flames and disappearing off screen.

“I can’t hear you!”

The following response left Ron and the others deaf, Harry going as far as to turn to Teddy and loudly ask, “Did you hear something!?”

Teddy felt as if his ear was being screamed off, though he didn’t answer Harry, instead waving the giant pink foam finger that had Skull’s name emblazoned on it. Harry laughed at his Godson’s antics, turning back to look at the open field that was this Skull’s play place.

There was something familiar about her, though he couldn’t quite place it.

(Luna watched the group and Skull, munching on a bar of chocolate that Skull had given her earlier and quite happy with the bright yellow ear muffs Skull had gifted her for the night.

While not completely sound proof, Luna was very happy that she wasn’t getting drowned in the noise that she could feel buzzing around her.)

Even when she took her helmet off and bowed for the crowd, he couldn’t figure it out. She definitely didn’t look like anyone he had ever met. It really made him wonder how his sister worked alongside such a loud, energetic woman.

Knowing Charlie, she probably interacted _just_ enough with everyone and kept mostly to herself.

“How do you think Charlie met her?” Fred asked, while George looked a lot more thoughtful.

“Who knows,” Harry answered, looking at the long line that had been made for those who wanted to get a picture with Skull. How the woman look put together after being underneath the helmet for over an hour, he wouldn’t know. “Definitely dragging her back home to get some answers though.”

“Oh definitely, Char-Char needs to spill more about her life anyways.”

George hummed, watching the way Skull smiled for the camera. She was a very animated woman, interacting easily with the group of adults and children that they were trying to fit into one picture. She leaned over to whisper something to the kid beside her, clasping both of his hands in hers as he tilted his head so that she could rest her cheek on it.

She smiled again and while the others began to walk away, he stayed staring.

(The way her eyes crinkled completely shut, baring her teeth in a playful manner at the camera, somehow still managing it to be a smile. She giggled with the kid afterwards, sticking her tongue out to the side playfully as she rolled her eyes.)

“….no way.”

_Charlotte?_

+++

Skull could tell when they left, not feeling relieved, but she did feel the tension leave her.

Whether they figured it out that night, it didn’t matter, because they were going to find out when they came to see her in a few days.

“You float in the air,” Luna all but hummed when she came up in line, instantly looping her arm with hers, tilting her head to the side and giving the camera a lopsided grin. Skull stuck out her tongue, holding up two fingers up against her eye.

“Oh do I?”

“Wonderful job as always,” Luna whispered, patting her arm before Skull reached for the picture that the photographer held out and signed it. “Don’t be a stranger okay?”

“You know,” Skull laughed out as she shook her head, “I really try not to be.”

“I know, take care alright?”

And Skull watched the blonde make her way to where Teddy was standing, ruffling the young man’s hair before she left.

Merlin she really had put a lot on the back burner hadn’t she?

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....yall some of your comments just surprise me......( ; o ; )
> 
> Have some 'we're really toeing the line here Skull wtf' and Skull being "i know....your point?'


	24. Chapter 24

_1994_

Charlotte hadn’t spoken to anyone since her name had come out of the Goblet.

Not even Harry.

Last she heard Harry was angry at Ron for getting mad at her and had said some unpleasant things that Harry hadn’t wanted to repeat (and neither had Neville or Hermione when she confronted them about it.)

Draco was being a prat, only because she wasn’t talking to him after he had asked how she managed to pull it off even after she said she hadn’t done anything.

(No one other than her brother was believing her and it was _pissing her off.)_

She hadn’t gone to classes that day, deciding to take the excuse that she was preparing and researching previous Triwizard Tournaments so that she could have an idea of what to expect (and she was, but her head was refusing to cooperate after reading so much and words just looked like squiggles at this point.)

“Don’t burn yourself, Char-char.”

“Weasley,” she breathed, closing her eyes so that she could try and take a moment and not lose her shit on George. “What.”

Oh, well at least she hadn’t flung the book at him.

“It’s not like you to be so….quiet.”

She glared at him, taking off her glasses so that she couldn’t see him clearly, “Leave me alone, Weasley.”

“I’m George…did you forget? I’m even wearing the right sweater today.”

She looked down at the now blurry pages of her book, thumb tapping against a squiggly line and feeling the contrast between the smooth ink and the slightly rough texture of the page it was on.

Okay this was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

When Harry had said that his sister was going to be in a mood, he hadn’t been lying. She didn’t meet his gaze at all, instead staring down at the same spot of her book. He could tell she was trying to keep her expression blank, but the way her brows furrowed slightly every now and then, her lips pursing slightly and her eyes blinking rapidly at certain points, let him know that she wasn’t as cool as she wanted people to think.

“Charlotte, if you need help, just ask, alright?”

She didn’t say anything, though her brows rose slightly and he could tell she was biting the inside of her cheek.

“Don’t be a stranger, Char-char.”

He left as quickly as he showed up deciding not to push the girl. Originally he and Fred had wanted to question how she had done it, but that moment was soon over not even seconds after she had stalked up into the room the Champions had been sent in.

( _There’s no way….we know her….this is the last thing she would want….)_

George really hoped she would ask for help. He joined up with Fred who gave him an inquiring look and merely scratched his head, shrugging. Fred shook his head, looping his arm with his and the pair strolled through the hallway, easily going around groups of first and second years who were getting out of class.

+++

_Few weeks later_

“Close your mouth Harry,” Charlotte tisked at him, before she glared at a group passing by. It made her just a little happy to see the Hufflepuff’s skitter past them real quick and she only knocked off her glare when Harry jostled her arm.

“You’re bloody joking.”

“I am bloody not,” she said back, uncrossing her arms, one hand going up to muse up her hair. “I wish I was, but I saw them.”

“Dragons,” Harry mouthed the word, before doing it again. “Are they mental?”

Charlotte snorted, putting her hands on her hips as she gave Harry an unimpressed smile, “Wizards, dear Harry, I’ve realized aren’t entirely there.”

They’ve talked about the differences between the mundane and the magical world and while each world had its own unique attitude, sometimes the magical world really went over the edge.

‘ _We’ll have the barely legal teenagers deal with Dragons….that’s a sound plan.’_

“This honestly isn’t as bad as other trials that have happened in this tournament,” Charlotte tried to amend, only to get a flat stare from Harry.

“Charlie, do you even have an idea of how to deal with dragons?”

She tapped her nose with her finger in thought, before pushing the tip of her nose, which pulled at her upper lip a little, “Norbert.”

“Norberta.”

“Yes, her.”

“….. _no_ , that doesn’t count –“

“I mean if Malfoy hadn’t snitched it would have given me more time –“

“Oh, not Draco anymore?”

Charlotte pulled her finger back, once again placing her hand on her hip, “Don’t start, you have that Weasley as a friend, Potter.”

This time Harry did roll his eyes, but didn’t say anything, “Fine, fine, look I’ll ask Hermione if she has any ideas –“ Charlotte clucked her tongue at the idea, but Harry continued, “You have to warn Diggory about this.”

“No duh,” she uttered, bring her hands down and just resting them at her sides. “Out of everyone in my House, Cedric has been the nicest to me, I wouldn’t want him to get roasted.”

“…work together maybe?”

“…maybe…”

Well that was more than what Harry could hope for from his sister, who had already pushed away Fred and George.

“If you need help, Charlotte just ask.”

Her mouth pulled down as she looked away from him, so he couldn’t see the way her eyes changed color, “I’ll see you Harry.”

Harry sighed, watching his sister’s back as she headed to Hagrid’s hut. She’d been spending more time with the man, along with skipping a lot of her classes lately.

Not that he could fault her, but if he had been in her place, he doubted he would have been doing the same thing.

Then again, Hagrid knew a lot about magical creatures and viewed them in a different light than others who labelled certain creatures as ‘dangerous’.

Maybe it was for the better that she sought solace around Hagrid, even if she disagreed with some of the man’s views of people.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...when in great doubt and a terrible situation, our Charlotte refuses or doesn't seek help. Which shows why as Skull she didn't tell anyone in her family about her *coughsecretcough* other life (lives).


	25. Chapter 25

_Present_

_June 17, 2022_

After having been told of what it was like to be in the crowd, Hermione had quickly charmed some ear muffs to better protect everyone’s hearing.

Would some of them wear it?

Maybe, but that was their problem if they didn’t want to be protective of their hearing.

“I’m surprised they’re able to stage in the area like this,” she commented when they were looking for their seats, elevated just a bit above the crowd that was gathering around the stage. The ramps from what she assumed to be 0the stunts drivers performance, were moved aside, though set up in a way that if the crowd was properly circled off, that people could still perform.

The closer it got to seven, the rowdier the crowd got, chanting for Skull, which made them all frown.

“Wait what name does Charlotte go by?” Ginny asked, getting Harry’s attention, who merely stared straight ahead in thought.

“Uh, I never asked,” he sheepishly answered, scratching his chin. Ginny only sighed, shaking her head at her husband for forgetting a rather important detail. “Maybe Skull performs with her as well?”

George overhead, though he didn’t say anything.

“I’m surprised Teddy’s not here,” Fred leaned into his twin, looking around the area. “Charlotte would have made sure to include him on this.”

George wouldn’t doubt that Teddy knew.

The lights dimmed, a slightly upbeat drum tempo started, the guitars and bass joining in to add some harmonies, before the voice started singing.

“That’s Charlie’s voice!” Rose piped up, pointing to the woman shrouded in darkness, the lights ever so slightly creeping up on the band mates.

Harry recognized it instantly, though not as his sister’s voice but as Skull’s from the previous night. The song got to a guitar solo, revealing that the vocalist was also playing as the light slowly got to her. The other bandmates joined her, voices harmonizing the ‘woah’s’.

“Because it’s too cold for you here~”

Skulll’s hair was untied, a wild purple mess that wouldn’t have been amiss on his sister, even if she did try to tame it. Her face was being shown on the televisions on the room, the shine in her eye, the way her mouth curled in amusement as she started up the next song.

“Ain’t no rest for the wicked~”

The kids were cheering, not exactly realizing the way the adults had been quiet as they all came to their own conclusions.

Harry didn’t know if he should feel proud and happy, or disappointed and angry. His sister had pulled away from them after the war and had outright disappeared for a year when the suggestions of what she should be doing got to her.

_Control yourself, take only what you need from it_

It felt as if the music rattled his bones, the simple bassline steady and simple holding the almost loopy electric piano from going off on its own. The lights flashed in time with the song, the crowd in front of the stage singing the final chorus as Skull directed her mic at them.

“Manchester how are we doing!?” the boisterous American accent was good and Harry was sure that if any one of them had ever passed Charlotte like this, they wouldn’t have recognized her. “Thank you for coming tonight and submitting the songs you have – although some of the song choices do make me worry for some of you.”

“Now its up to you all, which direction should we head – bright and cheery or dark and loud?” She took the mic off the stand, “Cheer for the first one!” the crowd yelled, making Skull shake her head, nose wrinkling as she smiled widely. “Cheer for the second!”

“I didn’t think it could get louder –“ Arthur mumbled, his words heard through the ear muffs they were all wearing.

“All right! You asked for it!” she pointed at the other guitarist, who started a minor riff, before the drums kicked in, Skull head banging along with it until the drums cut off and she started singing.

_I knew you were,_

_You were going to come for me_

“Well she definitely has range,” Fred breathlessly said, when Skull’s vocals became distorted for a second before returning to normal. “Who knew Char Char came so far?”

They stayed for the whole performance, the kids jumping along with the beat of the songs and at some point when the lyrics showed up on some of the screens singing along.

The way Charlotte, no Skull, _Merlin_ how did they refer to her now? They saw Skull de Mort, the wild child, the tempting stunt driver that was world renowned, the voice they heard was their Charlotte who had only started singing in front of them when she was sixteen.

The dancing, the quick wardrobe changes, the energy she put out on stage, the fact that they could tell that she was enjoying every second of it and embracing the moment.

This could have been her with them; instead of her coming in with a smile that became strained the longer she was with all of them.

“Thank you and goodnight!”

“Well the Skull de Mort makes sense now,” Harry commented as the band faded out after their last song, earning a groan from Ron.

“A dig at Voldemort after so long?”

Hermione snorted at what she heard as she went through the pamphlet she had taken, shaking her head as she read through the biography, “How do you think she’s feeling right now?”

“That depends…” George started, as he pressed the ear muffs tighter to his head so he could hear better, “Are we on par with her name coming out of the Triwizard Cup or her facing a dragon?”

“You’re comparing this to the Triwizard Tournament?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“We are not the same as her facing down a dragon or jumping into the lake –“

George shrugged, remembering the way Charlotte had pulled away from everyone for the first few months and how it had taken a long while after to get her to be her old self around them, “Guess we’ll have to talk then.”

That’s when the large group all turned to look at Harry, who was holding onto his youngest who wanted to run off and hunt down her _super cool Aunt Charlotte._

“Uh, I’ll….talk to her?”

+++

Teddy was back stage and handed Skull a towel, to which she thanked him for by smacking his arm with it before wiping her face with it, “They definitely know now.”

Skull shrugged, “Well what can you do about it?”

“Uh feel extreme anxiety?”

“Hah!” she blew a raspberry at Teddy, ruffling his blue hair, “After everything I’ve suffered, I don’t mind facing this, Tedbear.”

“Don’t call me that,” the young man muttered, ducking away from his Godmother’s hand, which just made Skull laugh.

+++

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs that were mentioned or sung: Sweater Weather, Ain’t no Rest for the Wicked, MGMT kids, Dark Horse – Our Last Night. If It Means A Lot To you
> 
> Fred saying "she has range" was inspired by that tiktok and I laugh every time I read it. 
> 
> Enjoy! And thanks for all the support :3


End file.
